Empathy in the Arts

People who are more accurate at reading another person's emotions are better able to understand what a musician is trying to convey through their compositions. Additionally, those with higher empathetic accuracy are better able to feel the emotions conveyed through music.

"Tabak and his colleagues wanted to test their theory about empathy and music. For the purposes of this study, they measured the ability to correctly understand others’ thoughts and feelings (empathic accuracy) and the extent to which one feels the emotions that another feels (affect sharing).

'We thought it would be interesting to study whether people who more accurately understand others’ thoughts and feelings might also be more accurate in understanding what musicians are intending to convey through music,' Tabak said. 'Similarly, we wanted to know whether people who tend to feel the emotions that others are experiencing also tend to feel the emotions conveyed through music.'
 

#EmpathyCircles: The best #Empathy building practice.  http://www.EmpathyCircle.com

 #EmpathyTraining:  https://j.mp/ECCOURSE

A world without music is as good as a soul devoid of emotions. Here are 5 ways how music increases empathy in listeners.

Recent research has provided evidence that musical interaction can promote empathy. Yet little is known about the underlying interpersonal and social psychological processes that are involved when this occurs.

Music has been with us since the dawn of human civilization. Many consider it a cosmic blessing, while to others, it is their best friend. To composers, it is an art. Whatever it is, music always brings out the best in us. It helps us to express ourselves to the fullest.

But did you know, there’s a direct relation between music and empathy?

 And young learners are often asked to work long shifts and shuttle between numerous patients, making it a challenge to develop in-depth relationships. Several other studies have shown that art can be an effective tool to both foster empathy and improve observation skills, which have been linked with improved patient outcomes.

How? Think about it this way. Each time your children “play pretend,” they have to imagine how another person would think and feel, and then act accordingly. Like striking the confident pose of a superhero, or forgetting how to walk and talk like a baby, or adopting an oh-so-fancy accent and extended pinky finger to have tea with the queen. Although acting may just seem like a fun game to your kids, it’s also giving them amazing practice at understanding people and developing empathy.

In our surreal world full of war, famine and disease, and increasingly blurred lines between fact and fiction, we need art to build empathy.

But it’s clear that soul musicians feel they are tapping into something ineffable yet very real. When the a cappella group Take 6 joined Whalum and moderator Adam Gopnik on stage, they talked about how their sound has defied music-industry attempts to pigeonhole them.

Formed as a gospel barbershop group, Take 6 were first signed to a country label. Over the years, they’ve navigated the line between contemporary and traditional, and gospel and Christian music (distinctions that are more about race than anything else). They said they even lost one awards-show gig because they were deemed too “jazzy.”

Interpersonal understanding is another way of describing empathy, operationally defined as one person tuning in to what it’s like to be in the situation of another person. This includes some consideration of the uniqueness of that other person, the likelihood of different tastes, temperament, background. Empathy can be taught through the psycho-dramatic technique of role reversal,

of having one person take the role of the other. In that role, the person is interviewed, coached, and drawn out until he or she begins to experience a complex of imaginal associa¬tions. In order to be successful, role reversal requires that the individ¬ual’s feelings be engaged, not just his or her intellect.

... In family therapy, it becomes a playful challenge for, say, a child to watch his father take the boy’s role and be interviewed by the therapist as the boy. Intermittently, the therapist pauses, asks the real boy for corrections, and coaches the father. The goal is to encourage empathy, not to humiliate the person attempting the task, so the therapist should use this technique with tact (Remer 1986).

Another benefit of having people attempt to take each others’ roles in family therapy is that it promotes trust. It’s intuitively obvious that when one person attempts to feel into the situation of the other, the act of empathizing reduces barriers of insensitivity

Charles E. Schaefer & Lois J. Carey (Eds.),
Family Play Therapy. (October, 1994) Northvale, NJ: Jason Aronson.

In Kerry Tribe’s video we see both actors playing patients and medical students acting as though they were doctors, but the aim is for something real: empathy.

Adjunct faculty member Gudrun Lock will be showcasing her work in Humanly Possible: The Empathy Exhibition, which asks viewers to do something that seems rather difficult lately: feel empathy.

Lock will also be speaking in the Empathy Through the Visual Arts artist's discussion. Along with two other artists in the exhibition, Lock will discuss the concept of empathy and its manifestation in the visual arts.

Humanly Possible: The Empathy Exhibition
On view through March 10
Milwaukee Institute of Art and Design
Opening Reception: Friday, January 19, 5:00 p.m.

Empathy Through the Visual Arts: An Artist's Discussion
Thursday, February 1, 6:00 p.m.
Milwaukee Institute of Art and Design

Zachary Wallmark, a musicologist who doubles as a cognitive scientist at the University of Oregon, was drawn to the theory of how music and empathy basically serve the same role, facilitating social connection through a vehicle of emotional expression.

But rather than asking people how empathetic they were, Wallmark and colleagues designed a novel study in which they showed participants videos of people talking about some emotionally charged episode in their lives. They also played piano music that was specifically composed to convey a certain emotional story.

People who are more accurate at reading another person's emotions are better able to understand what a musician is trying to convey through their compositions. Additionally, those with higher empathetic accuracy are better able to feel the emotions conveyed through music.

"Tabak and his colleagues wanted to test their theory about empathy and music. For the purposes of this study, they measured the ability to correctly understand others’ thoughts and feelings (empathic accuracy) and the extent to which one feels the emotions that another feels (affect sharing).

'We thought it would be interesting to study whether people who more accurately understand others’ thoughts and feelings might also be more accurate in understanding what musicians are intending to convey through music,' Tabak said. 'Similarly, we wanted to know whether people who tend to feel the emotions that others are experiencing also tend to feel the emotions conveyed through music.'
 

“Empathy is most often thought of in the context of social interactions, but there are many other forms of social communication, including music,” Tabak said. “Music can convey meaning and emotion and also elicit emotional responses, but the mechanisms responsible for its emotional power are poorly understood.”

Tabak and his colleagues wanted to test their theory about empathy and music. For the purposes of this study, they measured the ability to correctly understand others’ thoughts and feelings (empathic accuracy) and the extent to which one feels the emotions that another feels (affect sharing).

One of the biggest mistakes any photographer or videographer can make is to treat their client relationships as purely transactional. This excellent video discusses why empathy is one of the most important qualities any creative can possess and how it can improve both your work and your business relationships.

Coming to you from Daniel DeArco, this thought-provoking video examines the concept of empathy and how we can apply it both in our approach to clients and in our own work. I think it is important to remember that when a client comes to a photographer, they are not just looking for images; rather, they are looking for a representation of something they are invested in either emotionally or financially (or both), and as such, your photos or videos are an extension of them in some way. Treating the relationship purely as an exchange of goods or services can leave the client feeling insecure, as if you are not as invested in the importance of the final product as they are. And of course, it might not be your own wedding or business that you're capturing with the images you create, but showing you understand on a deep, personal level the importance of your photos and videos can go a long way in building stronger, more successful customer relationships. Check out the video abov

Dominic Lopes in “An Empathic Eye” raises two problems for the cultivation of empathy with art.

The first problem is the difference problem, according to which we need to make sense of how empathizing with art is different from empathizing face-to-face with people.

The second problem is the carryover problem, according to which we need to make sense of how empathizing with art doesn’t just cultivate skills for engaging with art, but in addition how it carries over to empathizing face-to-face with people.

He suggests that both problems need to be solved together. Turn up the difference between empathizing with art and people, and it becomes difficult to make sense of how the skill could carry over. 

Art can help people to see their differences in the context of our common human experiences.

Empathy involves imagining others’ perspectives (cognitive) and feeling care and compassion for them (emotional). When people are asked to envision what the world looks like to someone else, this ignites their compassion, and as a result, inspires altruistic behavior

•  (1). In some ways, empathy is a form of love that bridges our individual selves to other people. Unfortunately, people tend to naturally apply their empathy toward those who seem similar to them  
• (2), and people in power have difficulty empathizing
•  (3). These are two big barriers to empathy when it comes to issues of historical injustice, which are intimately linked with perceived group differences and power inequality.

Storytelling is the way to unlock empathy in any situation. We will teach you how.

Understand the science behind verbal and nonverbal communication to conduct more effective workplace investigations.

The Empathic Investigation means taking an authentic, mindful approach to

Embodying Empathy- Dance-Movement Therapy after Unthinkable Trauma

I’ve also discussed this question with others, and I’m finding that failure to connect with the character is a common reason why people stop reading. As a writer, this is good to know. I definitely want my audience to be invested in the hero. To make that happen, empathy is key.

Empathy draws readers in and keeps them engaged. In today’s market, with its growing availability of affordable books, it’s imperative that we hook readers from the very start. To achieve this end, here are some elements that can help you create reader empathy early on.

By KAYLEE S. KIM, CRIMSON STAFF WRITER April 27, 2018

Hired by the Office for the Arts at Harvard, Siebel teaches this weekly class in Currier Treehouse, which is open to all Harvard students. With multiple degrees in printmaking and years of artistic teaching experience at several universities, Siebel is now in her third year teaching “Figure Drawing,” a class that has run for over 30 years. Welcoming students with varying degrees of drawing experience, she emphasizes the empathy evoked by figure drawing, particularly through studying the nude model.