2023
Bollen, Caroline
A reflective guide on the meaning of empathy in autism research Journal Article
In: Methods in Psychology, vol. 8, no. 100109, 2023.
Links | BibTeX | Tags: Affective empathy, Autism, Cognitive empathy, Double empathy problem, Empathy, Neurodiversity, Theory of mind
@article{nokey,
title = {A reflective guide on the meaning of empathy in autism research},
author = {Caroline Bollen},
doi = {10.1016/j.metip.2022.100109},
year = {2023},
date = {2023-11-15},
urldate = {2023-11-15},
journal = {Methods in Psychology},
volume = {8},
number = {100109},
keywords = {Affective empathy, Autism, Cognitive empathy, Double empathy problem, Empathy, Neurodiversity, Theory of mind},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {article}
}
Bollen, Caroline
Towards a Clear and Fair Conceptualization of Empathy Journal Article
In: Social Epistemology, vol. 37, no. 5, pp. 637-655, 2023.
Abstract | Links | BibTeX | Tags: Autism, Empathy, Epistemic injustice, Neurodiversity
@article{nokey,
title = {Towards a Clear and Fair Conceptualization of Empathy},
author = {Caroline Bollen},
url = {https://www.esdit.nl/towards-a-clear-and-fair-conceptualization-of-empathy/},
doi = {https://doi.org/10.1080/02691728.2023.2227963},
year = {2023},
date = {2023-07-26},
journal = {Social Epistemology},
volume = {37},
number = {5},
pages = {637-655},
abstract = {Empathy is operationalised and measured in various different ways in research. I have identified several trends in empathy research that have resulted in what I refer to as neurotypical gatekeeping of the concept of empathy. Narrow assumptions on the relationship between experiences and expressions have made the concept exclusive to those who are perceived as neurotypical. In several ways, this has biased our knowledge of empathy, especially regarding autism. This does not only invalidate autistic empathy, but also sustains a harmful and stigmatizing narrative of autism. In this paper, I expand on the neurotypical gatekeeping of empathy as a matter of epistemic injustice and argue why and how neurodiversity calls for a reconceptualization of empathy. I continue by building a proposal for a clear and fair notion of empathy. I argue that we need to settle the dispute on empathy and morality by accepting the value associated with empathy in society, and use an anti-discriminatory normative conceptualization accordingly. I propose to understand empathy as appropriately attending to experiential differences and similarities, balancing between – what I introduce as - distantism and proximism. I discuss conceptual and methodological implications of this approach to empathy, as well as its application to neurodiversity.},
keywords = {Autism, Empathy, Epistemic injustice, Neurodiversity},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {article}
}
Empathy is operationalised and measured in various different ways in research. I have identified several trends in empathy research that have resulted in what I refer to as neurotypical gatekeeping of the concept of empathy. Narrow assumptions on the relationship between experiences and expressions have made the concept exclusive to those who are perceived as neurotypical. In several ways, this has biased our knowledge of empathy, especially regarding autism. This does not only invalidate autistic empathy, but also sustains a harmful and stigmatizing narrative of autism. In this paper, I expand on the neurotypical gatekeeping of empathy as a matter of epistemic injustice and argue why and how neurodiversity calls for a reconceptualization of empathy. I continue by building a proposal for a clear and fair notion of empathy. I argue that we need to settle the dispute on empathy and morality by accepting the value associated with empathy in society, and use an anti-discriminatory normative conceptualization accordingly. I propose to understand empathy as appropriately attending to experiential differences and similarities, balancing between – what I introduce as - distantism and proximism. I discuss conceptual and methodological implications of this approach to empathy, as well as its application to neurodiversity.