ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses that the term empathy encompasses a variety of processes and outcomes, and that a comprehensive understanding of the topic will require a broad multidimensional approach. In discussing where empathy in its various forms "comes from", it is important to distinguish between three different levels of analysis: empathy as an innate capacity, empathy as a stable dispositional characteristic, and empathy as it occurs in specific situations. Affective empathy is a long-standing evolutionary mechanism through which altruism is fostered. The chapter argues that parallel outcomes can be transformed into reactive outcomes, and specifically into empathic concern. It concerns itself with the question of capacities: the ability to engage in the cognitive process of adopting another's psychological point of view, and the capacity to experience affective reactions to the observed experiences of others. The chapter concludes with a thorough exploration of the Martin Hoffman's comprehensive theory of empathy.
