Today's college students lack empathy?

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Students don't have a monopoly on dearth of ethics. I'm troubled by the dearth of ethics in practically all demographics, and in particular those in power such as wall street executives, oil and gas company executives, and yes even some doctors.

Same here. I like people to LISTEN to me when I have problems but I don't really appreciate it when they go "awww" or talk to me in a funny high pitched voice. It just seems contrived to me when people do that. I don't want to show people that I feel sorry for them. I'd rather show respect and try to understand them. I try to give people what I would want.

When I first read the article, my thought was that it didn't really mean much. After all, I score as low as you can get on empathy and I'm a good and moral person.

But then it occurred to me--most of the college students they are referring to are NT, presumably. So they are supposed to be hardwired for empathy, right? So what does that mean if it's decreasing?

I mean, it seems like Aspies get around the lack of factory installed empathy software by making lots and lots of rules. At least that's how I've done it. But that doesn't seem to be an NT thing. So what happens when NTs have decreased empathy but don't make rules?

A really good question that is in dire need of some very heavy pondering is what it is.

You do have a point. I tried to answer as best as I can. I do feel pity for people in bad situations and answered yes to a lot of the questions about empathy but in reality if someone who doesn't understand me or knows nothing about someone who has Asperger's, they would disagree that I have pity. I really can't define what pity is. I do find it tragic when there are a lot of people on the streets (homeless) because they don't have jobs and it is possible they never will find a job with how the economy is changing and their skills may no longer be "useful". They are losing their jobs because their job can be outsourced or replaced by the digital revolution. A lot of blue collar jobs have been outsourced and even some white collar jobs have been outsourced such as software engineers. I feel bad for anyone who is left homeless but I may not seem to care with how I act. In addition, I find it hard to be emphatic with someone who purchased a house for half a million and cannot make payments. When buying a house you need to consider if you can really afford it and a lot of people don't look at this. I'm surprised I scored 53 on the test when I have been told by a lot of people who hate me that I am "Cold and heartless". I think the questions are flawed. One of the questions (if I remember right) asked if you think you are an empathetic person. I think everyone would answer this question with yes they are empathetic when in reality they may not be so empathetic.

Id say "selectively' empathetic. even then still not sure thats really even it.

Hmm. I answered "yes" to a lot of the questions about feeling bad about people who are suffering, but I had a hard time with the questions asking about whether I can see other people's point of view when I disagree with them. It almost seems like the test was confusing sympathy with empathy. I can feel bad for someone when they're getting pushed around or just having a hard time of it, because I know what it feels like to have bad things happen and I don't want anyone else to have to go through that. On the other hand, if I disagree with someone or have a problem with them, it's generally because some part of me is fundamentally rejecting their actions or beliefs as not just wrong, but impossible to wrap my head around. I'd LIKE to know why people can think and do things that seem completely illogical or wrong to me, but I really can't imagine it on anything more than the most shallow of levels. According to definitions I've heard, at least, this would imply that I am very capable of sympathy, feeling for someone because one knows what a certain situation feels like and how to react to it, bit not so much with empathy, which is feeling with someone even when you're unable to understand exactly how they think and feel about a given situation. The test seems to conflate the two, however. I wonder how much, and in which direction, that impacted my score.

No argument there; however, working with high school students and recent grads colours my perspective. Plus, my comment had additional meaning for one specific individual.


M.