My husband has been having medical problems, and I noticed that females in our family are more empathic than males. Intrigued by this observation, I started looking for research in this area to find out if this is just our family phenomenon (maybe related to the bringing-up process) or if it is commonly observed in a population.

What is empathy? Generally speaking, it is an ability to understand and share the emotional states of other people. Some researchers recognize two kinds of empathy; cognitive empathy (the ability to understand other people’s emotional states) and emotional empathy (the ability to feel/sense others' emotional states). Empathy is different from compassion, which is a caring feeling for others. Reportedly some animals such as primates, dogs, and rats can show empathy. I will add cats because our little female Siamese kitty always tries to cheer me up when I am stressed.

From a neuroscience point of view, it is not that easy to pinpoint where empathy is located in the brain. However, most research suggests that empathy originates in the anterior insular cortex, which is located deep in both hemispheres of the brain, below the frontal, parietal, and temporal lobes.

Empathy is a complex subject. There are some interesting studies on gender differences in empathy, but the results are mixed. In a 2005 study (Toussaint, L. & Webb, J.R), 127 community residents completed self-report measures of empathy and forgiveness. The results indicated that women were more empathic than men, but no gender differences for forgiveness were found.

In the large sample of a 2023 study (Pang, C. et al.), the researchers conducted three different studies. In the first study, 1486 Chinese college students completed the self-report questionnaire (Interpersonal Reactivity Index [IRS]) that assessed the cognitive and emotional aspects of empathy. The results indicated that, generally, women scored higher than men, especially on the subscales of Personal Distress and Empathic Concerns, but not on the subscale of Perspective Taking (the ability to consider other’s perspectives). The researchers noticed that similar results, using the IRS Questionnaire, were obtained in North America and Europe suggesting that it may be an intercultural phenomenon.

In the second study, the participants completed the IRS questionnaire, and EEG (electroencephalography) data were collected when subjects were watching a rapid presentation of painful or neutral facial expressions. Although women performed better in painful conditions, there were inconsistent results in the IRS/EEG study. The third study tested the hypothesis that gender differences in empathy are related to the social context of gender-role expectations. The results confirmed the tested hypothesis.

There is another interesting study published in 2023, that comes out of Germany (McDonald, B. & Kanske, P.). Part of the study examined the gender differences in empathy and compassion. The 295 participants were watching 48 videos with either negative or neutral narrations. The results showed that women showed greater empathy and compassion, but there were no gender differences in the ability to infer others' mental state also called the Theory of Mind (ToM).

Another study (Russell, T. et al. 2007) found that men are better than women in ToM. In this study, 40 women and 40 men (matched for age and years of education) viewed 12 cartoons (Happe’s cartoon task) to understand the cartoon character's mental or physical state. The male participants performed better on both tasks, which suggests that males may be better in the cognitive aspects of empathy. Also, the authors of the review article (Christoy-More, L. et al. 2014) suggest that males may be better in the empathetic control.

In conclusion, the first impression after reading these studies may be that women are better in the affective form of empathy and men in the cognitive aspect of it, but this is not always that simple because gender differences involve interactions among multiple processes. Therefore, this is still a complicated subject that requires more research.

About the Author

Barbara Koltuska-Haskin, Ph.D., is a neuropsychologist in private practice in Albuquerque, New Mexico with over 30 years of clinical experience, and the author of How My Brain Works: A Guide to Understanding It Better and Keeping It Healthy. Her book has won 2 International Book Awards and 5 National Book Awards.

Dr. Barbara Koltuska-Haskin has received her first foreign translation. How My Brain Works was recently translated into Polish and published in Poland.