How empathic we are is partly a result of our genes, according to the results of the largest genome-wide association study of its kind.
Empathy is the ability to recognize and respond to the emotional states of other individuals. Image credit: John Hain.
Empathy is the ability to identify other people’s thoughts, intentions, desires, and feelings (cognitive empathy), and to respond to others’ mental states with an appropriate emotion (affective empathy).
Fifteen years ago, University of Cambridge’s Professor Simon Baron-Cohen and Dr. Sally Wheelwright developed the Empathy Quotient (EQ), a brief self-report measure of empathy.
Previous research showed that some of us are more empathetic than others, and that on average, women are slightly more empathetic than men. It also showed that, on average, autistic people score lower on the EQ, and that this was because they struggle with cognitive empathy, even though their affective empathy may be intact.
In a new study, Professor Baron-Cohen and colleagues report the results of the largest genetic study of empathy using information from 46,861 research participants from 23andMe, Inc., who completed the EQ online and provided a saliva sample for genetic analysis.
The new study has three important results:
(i) the study found that how empathetic we are is partly due to genetics; indeed, a tenth of this variation is due to genetic factors; this confirms previous research examining empathy in identical versus non-identical twins;
(ii) it also confirmed that women are on average more empathetic than men; however, this difference is not due to our DNA as there were no differences in the genes that contribute to empathy in men and women; this implies that the sex difference in empathy is the result of other non-genetic biological factors, such as prenatal hormone influences, or non-biological factors such as socialization, both of which also differ between the sexes;
(iii) the study found that genetic variants associated with lower empathy are also associated with higher risk for autism.
“Finding that even a fraction of why we differ in empathy is due to genetic factors helps us understand people such as those with autism who struggle to imagine another person’s thoughts and feelings,” Professor Baron-Cohen said.
“This can give rise to disability no less challenging than other kinds of disability, such as dyslexia or visual impairment. We as a society need to support those with disabilities, with novel teaching methods, work-arounds, or reasonable adjustments, to promote inclusion.”
“This is an important step towards understanding the small but important role that genetics plays in empathy,” said study first author Varun Warrier, a PhD student at the University of Cambridge.
“But keep in mind that only a tenth of individual differences in empathy in the population are due to genetics. It will be equally important to understand the non-genetic factors that explain the other 90%.”
“This new study demonstrates a role for genes in empathy, but we have not yet identified the specific genes that are involved,” said joint senior author Professor Thomas Bourgeron, from the Institut Pasteur and the Université Paris Didero, France.
“Our next step is to gather larger samples to replicate these findings, and to pin-point the precise biological pathways associated with individual differences in empathy.”
“These are the latest findings from a series of studies that 23andMe have collaborated on with researchers at Cambridge. Together these are providing exciting new insights into the genetics influences underlying human behavior,” said joint senior author Dr. David Hinds, principal scientist at 23andMe.
The results appear in the journal Translational Psychiatry.
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Varun Warrier et al. 2018. Genome-wide analyses of self-reported empathy: correlations with autism, schizophrenia, and anorexia nervosa. Translational Psychiatry 8, article number: 35; doi: 10.1038/s41398-017-0082-6
