Flourish FM Episode 72#: How empathy helps you flourish, with Dr. Alison Jane Martingano
Dr. Alison Jane Martingano is a social psychologist at the University of Wisconsin–Green Bay, where she leads the Social Research Lab dedicated to investigating empathy and perspective-taking. She has published her research in leading academic journals such as the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Social Psychological and Personality Science, and Popular Media.
Alison hosts the fortnightly Psychology & Stuff podcast, chatting with psychologists and Green Bay locals about topics ranging from sports to false confessions. In addition, she blogs for Psychology Today, translating cutting-edge psychology research into clear, relatable insights.
As an immigrant and military wife, Alison appreciates the difficulties and opportunities that communicating with those dissimilar from ourselves can bring. She is a passionate educator and TEDx speaker and hopes to inspire her students, and others, to nurture empathy in a changing world.
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Links:
- Website
- Academic webpage
- Google Scholar
- Psychology Today blog
- Psychology and Stuff podcast
- TEDx Talk: “How to train your empathy muscles”
Timestamps:
00:01:51 - Defining Empathy and Perspective Taking
00:03:08 - Types of Empathy and Research Disagreements
00:07:07 - Negative Effects of Mirroring Negative Emotions
00:11:01 - Empathy Without Negative Emotional Mirroring
00:15:10 - Is Empathy Always Good?
00:17:47 - The Paradox of Empathy and Helping Behavior
00:18:42 - Compassion as a Buffer Against Burnout
00:20:41 - The Warm Glow of Helping Others
00:25:25 - Chosen Suffering and Antifragility
00:26:15 - The Upper Limit of Compassion
00:27:21 - Empathy and Burnout: Positive and Negative Connections
00:30:27 - Practical Strategies for Developing Empathy
00:32:29 - Recommended Books for Building Empathy
00:34:06 - Summary of Empathy Types and Benefits
00:35:03 - Practical Strategies to Avoid Burnout While Building Empathy
00:35:36 - Controversial Tip: Eavesdropping to Build Empathy
00:36:46 - Children Learning Empathy Through Observation
00:37:14 - Safe Settings for Practicing Perspective Taking
00:42:09 - Role-Playing and Social Networks in Empathy Development
00:42:55 - “Toxic Empathy”: Misunderstandings and Clarifications