Article
Inclusive Cultural Empathy for Successful Global Leadership.
American Psychologist
(2010)
Abstract
Empathy is reported in the research literature as a necessary factor in counseling and psychotherapy, but psychologists have historically interpreted empathy through an exclusively individual focus. Most of the research on empathy has been predicated on a definition of empathy as occurring when one person vicariously experiences the feelings, perceptions, and thoughts of another. In Western cultures, the study of empathy focuses exclusively on the individual, whereas in traditional non-Western cultures, empathy more typically involves an inclusive perspective focusing on the individual and significant others in the societal context. This article explores the reframing of "empathy," based on an individualistic perspective, into "inclusive cultural empathy," based on a more relationship-centered perspective, as an alternative interpretation of the empathic process. Psychologists are both the problem and the solution to this dilemma, and the authors call upon the field to take leadership in applying this "inclusive cultural empathy" model.
Disciplines
Publication Date
January 1, 2010
DOI
10.1037/0003-066X.65.8.841
Citation Information
Paul B. Pedersen and Mark Pope. "Inclusive Cultural Empathy for Successful Global Leadership." American Psychologist Vol. 65 Iss. 8 (2010) p. 841 - 854 Available at: http://works.bepress.com/mark-pope/15/