Title |
Inter-individual Differences in Heart Rate Variability Are Associated with Inter-individual Differences in Empathy and Alexithymia
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Published in |
Frontiers in Psychology, February 2018
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DOI | 10.3389/fpsyg.2018.00229 |
Pubmed ID | |
Authors |
Alexander Lischke, Rike Pahnke, Anett Mau-Moeller, Martin Behrens, Hans J. Grabe, Harald J. Freyberger, Alfons O. Hamm, Matthias Weippert |
Abstract |
In the present study, we investigated whether inter-individual differences in vagally mediated heart rate variability (vmHRV) would be associated with inter-individual differences in empathy and alexithymia. To this end, we determined resting state HF-HRV in 90 individuals that also completed questionnaires assessing inter-individual differences in empathy and alexithymia. Our categorical and dimensional analyses revealed that inter-individual differences in HF-HRV were differently associated with inter-individual differences in empathy and alexithymia. We found that individuals with high HF-HRV reported more empathy and less alexithymia than individuals with low HF-HRV. Moreover, we even found that an increase in HF-HRV was associated with an increase in empathy and a decrease in alexithymia across all participants. Taken together, these findings indicate that individuals with high HF-HRV are more empathetic and less alexithymic than individuals with low HF-HRV. These differences in empathy and alexithymia may explain why individuals with high HF-HRV are more successful in sharing and understanding the mental and emotional states of others than individuals with low HF-HRV. |
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Australia | 1 | 11% |
Canada | 1 | 11% |
Greece | 1 | 11% |
United Kingdom | 1 | 11% |
Switzerland | 1 | 11% |
Unknown | 4 | 44% |
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Practitioners (doctors, other healthcare professionals) | 1 | 11% |
Mendeley readers
Geographical breakdown
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Unknown | 143 | 100% |
Demographic breakdown
Readers by professional status | Count | As % |
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Student > Ph. D. Student | 29 | 20% |
Student > Master | 20 | 14% |
Researcher | 18 | 13% |
Student > Bachelor | 14 | 10% |
Student > Doctoral Student | 9 | 6% |
Other | 25 | 17% |
Unknown | 28 | 20% |
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Medicine and Dentistry | 6 | 4% |
Unspecified | 5 | 3% |
Social Sciences | 4 | 3% |
Neuroscience | 4 | 3% |
Other | 20 | 14% |
Unknown | 38 | 27% |