Thesis (Ph.D.)--Boston University / It is the hypothesis of this dissertation that interpersonal empathetic ability and aesthetic empathic ability constitute one factor or ability. A secondary purpose of the dissertation is to explore and evaluate all possible methods of measuring empathic ability, and to develop a good pencil and paper test of empathic ability. "Empathy" is understood here as "pathic perception" -- the perception or cognition of feeling emotion. The methodology of the dissertation involves a theoretical review and synthesis, and an experiment. A review of the literature reveals four basic types of empathy theories: (1) self-theories; (2) associationist theories; (3) Gestalt theories; (4) motor theories. Though the theorists representing these four positions argue among themselves as to how the process of empathy operates, almost without exception they agree that it operates in the same manner in the perception of persons as it does in the perception of objects of art. The weight of theoretical opinion is overwhelming on this point. Inerpersonal empathy and aesthetic empathy are held by all of the major empathy theorists to be one and the same process [TRUNCATED]

This study examines how propaganda imagery was used to reveal metaphors of health and disease in Nazi Germany from 1933 to 1945. Specifically, it explores how German medical and political authorities of this period entrenched biological explanations for social ills through medico-political discourses of disease, criminality and deviancy, in their efforts to exterminate particular populations. This propaganda was conversed with the idealised and beautified German Volk who, in turn, were graphically elevated to the realms of a supreme master race. I use a methodology composed of compositional and discourse analysis, and a theoretical framework that develops the work of Erving Goffman. These frameworks were applied to a range of images from a sample of propagandist movies, published within the time-frame, in order to illuminate how the German medical establishment sought to realise the juxtaposition of both promoting life and administering death. Findings suggest that the biological categorising and subjective measuring of individuals was a modernistic philosophy. Extensive use of metaphors resulted in a widening range of stigmas which needed medical intervention to maintain normality and social order whilst purifying and cleansing the body politic. The study advances the understanding of the relationship between the discourses of health and disease with an in-depth sociopolitical study of imagery, asking why it was used to legitimate and nationalise social inequality in the context of Nazi Germany. It further offers a new socio-filmic model for future use when analysing moving imagery in the sociohistorical field. These two advances therefore provide novel contributions to the sociology of public health and social methods.

abstract: The goals of this dissertation were to develop a measurement called the Empathetic Expressions Scale (EES) for Negative and Positive Events, to evaluate expressions of empathy from the receiver perspective, and to provide initial evidence for empathetic expressions as a separate construct from the empathy experience. A series of studies were conducted using three separately collected sets of data. Through the use of Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA), the EES for Negative Events and the EES for Positive Events were created from the emerged factors. A five-factor structure emerged for the EES for Negative Events, which include Verbal Affirmation, Experience Sharing, Empathetic Voice, Emotional Reactivity, and Empathetic Touch. This scale was found to have good convergent and discriminant validity through the process of construct validation and good local and model fit through Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA). A four-factor structure and two-factor structure emerged for the EES for Positive Events. The four factors include Verbal Affirmation, Experience Sharing, Empathetic Voice, and Emotional Reactivity. The two factors in the second structure include Celebratory Touch and Hugs.The final study focused on evaluating different empathetic expressions from the receiver perspective. From the receiver perspective, the participants rated five types of empathetic expressions in response to negative or positive events disclosure. According to the findings, Emotional Reactivity was rated as the most effective empathetic expression in negative events on both levels of supportiveness and message quality scales whereas Verbal Affirmation received the lowest ratings on both criteria. In positive events, Experience Sharing was evaluated as the most supportive and highest quality message whereas Verbal Affirmation was evaluated the lowest on both criteria. Taken together, the series of studies presented in this dissertation provided evidence for the development and validity of the EES for Negative and Positive Events. / Dissertation/Thesis / Doctoral Dissertation Communication 2016

Flera studier har gjorts kring hur musik påverkar människor. Bullerjahn och Güldenring genomförde en studie där en egenskapad scen musiklades på flera olika sätt, Cohen gjorde liknande studier men kopplade det till psykologi. Resultaten de fick fram var att musik påverkade tittaren på det sättet som musiken var tänkt att göra.För att få svar på hur musik påverkar en filmscen skapades problemformuleringen: Hur påverkas upplevelsen samt förståelsen av en films dödsscen när den musikläggs på två olika sätt; empathetic eller anempathetic musikläggning utöver filmens originalljudeffekter?För att få svar på frågeställningen så genomfördes ett antal intervjuer där respondenterna fick se samma självmordsscen tre gånger men musiklagd på tre olika sätt. Enbart ljudeffekter, empathetic eller anempathetic.Ett antal filmscener analyserades och musik skapades för att återskapa både empathetic och anempathetic musik som användes i studien. Nio respondenter intervjuades och utifrån deras svar kom resultatet att musik inte påverkade deras uppfattning eller förståelse av scenen nämnvärt.För att få fram ett mer rättvisande resultat hade fler intervjuer behövt genomföras. Skapandet av en egen scen hade antagligen hjälpt studien då man hade haft full kontroll över flera delar som t.ex. längd och handling.

Philosophiae Doctor - PhD / E-government should be at the heart of service delivery in developing countries if the life of citizens, especially the socially and economically marginalised, is to be improved. Often in developing contexts, citizens have been treated as recipients of such interventions, in a top-down approach from central governments, resulting in the non-use of such interventions. A situation of non-use of e-services results in wastage of the public fiscus. The extant literature points to a number of underlying causes of the problem. One such problem is the “Design-Reality Gap."

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« Empathie » et « manipulation » chez Stendhal : le recours à ces concepts favorise la relecture de son œuvre. L'empathie, concept migrant au travers de diverses disciplines, aboutit dans le domaine littéraire…à la mesure de sa fonctionnalité. Comprendre autrui, cet élément cognitif précède le cas échéant une phase émotionnelle. Mais un partage d’émotions a des gradations possibles, de la sympathie jusqu'à l'acmé. De ce double niveau sortiraient d'éventuelles dérivations, telles les qualités d'altruisme. A l'inverse, un partage d'émotions fondées sur la souffrance peut provoquer chez autrui un plaisir pervers. Tel serait donc l'univers issu de ces concepts, entraînant à l'établissement de types idéaux, de l'« empathiste » et du « manipulateur ». De toute façon se dévoilerait un déséquilibre au profit de l'empathie. Définie morale de l’intention dont tout relèverait, dispositions d'esprit, logos, pathos, elle se distinguerait de la manipulation, restreinte alors à une morale de l’acte. Par une démarche épistémologique, on déclinera différents cas de figure. Mais s'en révèlera l'incomplet, si celle-ci n'est pas corrélée à une approche thématique dans au moins deux domaines-phare de la sémiotique stendhalienne, l'Amour et le Pouvoir. En fonction du diptyque entendement-affectivité, se dégageraient deux pistes : celle d'une littérature en noir et blanc à qui serait dévolu un rôle de progression romanesque. A la littérature en couleur fondée sur l'écriture affective serait réservé celui de mise en valeur de situations de climax ou d'acmé. Par le décryptage de l’œuvre, devrait finalement se dévoiler une construction idéologique de Stendhal, si l'on aboutit là où l'auteur n'aurait pas voulu explicitement aller ou aurait voulu aller sans pour autant se découvrir. / « Empathy » and « manipulation » in Stendhal's writing-using these concepts facilitates the rereading of hid works. Empathy, a migrant concept crossing multiples disciplines, has made its way into the literary sphere…in accordance with its practicality. Understanding others is a cognitive element which precedes, if need be, the emotional phase. The sharing of emotions, however, has varying degrees, ranging from sympathy to acme. Possible derivations could stem from this dual level : expressions of altruism for example. Conversely, the sharing of emotions founded on suffering could provoque perverse pleasures in others. This is the universe that results from these concepts, leading to the establishment of two ideals types, the « empathizer » and the « manipulator ». An imbalance, in any case, will be revealed between the two, the scales tipping in favour of empathy. Empathy is defined as morale de l’intention [intentionally moral], a category within which fall such terms as state of mind, logos and pathos. Precisely, this distinguishes empathy from manipulation, thus limiting the latter to morale de l’acte [acting moral]. Using an epistemological approach, we will examine a variety of different occurrences. This approach, however, will prove to be incomplete if not correlated with a thematic approach in at least two key semiotic fields of Stendhal's works : Love and Power. Two avenues of research will emerge from the diptych understanding-affectivity. On the one hand, there is black and white literatur, which will be given the role of novelistic progression. On the other hand, there is color literature, founded on affective writing, it will be reserved for the role of emphasizing situations containing climax or acme. By deciphering his works, an ideological construction of Stendhal will finally be unearthed, if we are able to reach the place where the author did not want to go explicitly, or where he would liked to have gone, but without having to show his true self.

The use of protective testimonial aids by the child witness has been advocated for as research indicates that it decreases witness stress and suggestibility; however, the use of such aids has also been attacked as incompatible with the defendant’s confrontational right and the fact-finding function of the jury. The present study examines the effects of testimony modality, as well as empathy-inducing closing arguments, on juror perceptions of the child witness, perceptions of the defendant, and ultimate judgments of guilt. In this between-subjects factorial study, workers on Amazon Mechanical Turk were invited to participate in an online simulated sexual assault case survey. Participants read all trial stimuli, which consisted of written juror instructions, case facts, testimonies, closing arguments, and legal definitions. In addition, participants were exposed to photographs depicting the child witness testifying under one of three possible conditions (direct, shielded, CCTV) and either read the prosecutor’s closing argument that contained a specific empathy-inducing portion or did not. Results indicated that regardless of testimony modality and empathy-inducing closing arguments, jurors did not exhibit a pro-prosecution or pro-defense bias.

<p>In today’s evolving classrooms, educators are tasked with going beyond providing the necessary content knowledge to reach the needs of their students. In addition to effectively differentiating instruction, global competency skills have become an increasingly pressing concern as the American society gradually becomes more diverse. In response, recent programs and supports have been created to allow prospective teacher candidates to develop their global competence to better meet the needs of an increasingly diverse and globally connected society.</p><p>An explanatory sequential mixed methods research design examined how participation in a short-term study abroad can impact teachers’ empathetic dispositions related to globally competent teaching practices. Quantitative data was first collected through an online Qualtrics questionnaire from pre-service, in-service, and other agricultural educators (n=36) who participated in a short-term study abroad experience in Jamaica from 2015-2019. Following the online questionnaire, four virtual follow-up focus groups were conducted via Zoom to further explore the collection and analysis of study participants’ self-rated stage of empathy development along the Globally Complement Teaching and Learning Continuum. Inductive coding revealed themes for both internal and external factors influencing study participants’ rationale and desired movement along the continuum.</p><p>Overall, participants acknowledged the transformative experience during the short-term study abroad to Jamaica as an external factor for building competence in the dispositions element of empathy and valuing multiple perspectives. Implications for practice and suggestions for future research were provided to help agricultural educators develop globally competent teaching practices.</p>