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	<title>Health &#38; FamilyCategory: Empathy &#124; Health &#38; Family &#124; TIME.com</title>
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		<title>Health &#38; FamilyCategory: Empathy &#124; Health &#38; Family &#124; TIME.com</title>
		<link>http://healthland.time.com</link>
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		<title>How Disasters and Trauma Can Affect Children&#8217;s Empathy</title>
		<link>http://healthland.time.com/2013/01/22/how-disasters-and-trauma-can-affect-childrens-empathy/</link>
		<comments>http://healthland.time.com/2013/01/22/how-disasters-and-trauma-can-affect-childrens-empathy/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 22 Jan 2013 13:00:06 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Maia Szalavitz</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Behavior]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Childhood]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Empathy]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Psychology]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Stress]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Trauma]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[altruism]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[child development]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[disaster]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[disasters]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[earthquake]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[empathy]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[kindness]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[selfishness]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Sichuan earthquake]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://healthland.time.com/?p=78221</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Do children become more kind and empathetic after a disaster— or does the experience make them more focus more on self-preservation? The first study to examine the question in an experimental way shows that children&#8217;s reactions may depend on their age. The ability to study the altruistic and empathetic tendencies of youth before and after a natural disaster emerged after an earthquake struck in May 2008 in Mianyang, China. Scientists from the U.S. and Canada were already collaborating with Chinese researchers in the town in Sichuan province on a study of altruistic behavior when the earthquake, which measured 8.0 on the Richter scale, killed some 87,000 people, including many children. MORE: How Disasters Bring Out Our Kindness The original study was designed to track sharing behavior among a group of 30 six-year-olds and 30 nine-year-olds from impoverished backgrounds in two rural schools. The students each met individually with a researcher who offered them 100 appealing stickers, from which they could choose 10 favorites to keep. They were then given the choice to donate some of the remainder to an anonymous classmate who did not participate in the study. The children placed their donation in a sealed envelope in a “mailbox” while the researcher was blindfolded so the children would think that their donation was anonymous. After the earthquake, the scientists had the unique opportunity to turn a tragedy into a research opportunity. One month after the disaster, they conducted the same test of sharing behavior with another 60 kids of the same age and background from the same schools. Three years later, another 60 students were tested and their choices were compared to those of the earlier groups. Before the quake, both six- and nine-year olds donated similar amounts on average: one to two stickers. But one month later — when 95% were homeless, nearly 2% had lost an immediate family member and 8% had injured relatives — the six-year olds were slightly more selfish, while the nine-year-olds were more generous. At that point, the younger kids gave away an<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=healthland.time.com&#038;blog=8684427&#038;post=78221&#038;subd=timewellness&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://healthland.time.com/2013/01/22/how-disasters-and-trauma-can-affect-childrens-empathy/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>2</slash:comments>
	<primary_category>Empathy</primary_category><primary_category_link>http://healthland.time.com/category/mental-health/empathy-mental-health/</primary_category_link><featured_image>http://timewellness.files.wordpress.com/2013/01/148914578.jpg?w=240</featured_image>
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			<media:title type="html">148914578</media:title>
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			<media:title type="html">MaiaSzalavitz</media:title>
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	</item>
		<item>
		<title>To Really Read Emotions, Look at Body Language, Not Facial Expressions</title>
		<link>http://healthland.time.com/2012/11/30/to-really-read-emotions-look-at-body-language-not-facial-expressions/</link>
		<comments>http://healthland.time.com/2012/11/30/to-really-read-emotions-look-at-body-language-not-facial-expressions/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 30 Nov 2012 17:30:43 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Laura Blue</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Autism]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Behavior]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Brain]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Emotion]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Empathy]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Perception]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Psychology]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Social Connection]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[extreme emotion]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[faces]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[tennis]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://healthland.time.com/?p=75134</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[We like to think we can read people like a book, relying mostly on tell-tale facial expressions that give away the emotions inside: the way the brows lift slightly with alarm, or the crow&#8217;s feet that crinkle with a wide smile. But when it comes to the strongest emotions, we read much less from facial expressions than we think we do. In fact, even though we believe it&#8217;s the face that tells the story, we&#8217;re typically reading something very different: body language and social cues. That&#8217;s the new, counterintuitive finding from a study published this week in the journal Science. Researchers from Princeton, New York University, and the Hebrew University of Jerusalem presented volunteer study participants with a series of pictures showing people experiencing extreme emotion, either positive or negative. The images included professional tennis players who had just won or lost a point in a major match, as well as people undergoing nipple piercing, and those in the throes of orgasm. In some of the images, researchers would only show the study participants a face; in others, only a body; and in others still, both the body and the face. You might think it&#8217;d be obvious from a face whether someone is in pain (having a nipple pierced) or whether he has just won Wimbledon. But it turns out it isn&#8217;t. (MORE: More Sleep Means More Focused, Emotionally Stable Kids) &#8220;The striking finding was that our participants had no clue if the emotion was positive or negative, when they were judging isolated faces,&#8221; says lead study author Hillel Aviezer from Hebrew University in an email response discussing the findings. &#8220;By contrast, when they were judging the body (with no face), or the body with the face, they easily differentiated positive from negative expressions.&#8221; The findings are doubly surprising because the study participants themselves were convinced that they recognized the emotions from the faces, not from body language or contextual cues. &#8220;They even had their own &#8216;mini theories&#8217; about what part of the face was most important &#8211; but this<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=healthland.time.com&#038;blog=8684427&#038;post=75134&#038;subd=timewellness&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://healthland.time.com/2012/11/30/to-really-read-emotions-look-at-body-language-not-facial-expressions/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>1</slash:comments>
	<primary_category>Emotion</primary_category><primary_category_link>http://healthland.time.com/category/mental-health/emotion-mental-health/</primary_category_link><featured_image>http://timewellness.files.wordpress.com/2012/11/200568394-002.jpg?w=240</featured_image>
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			<media:title type="html">200568394-002</media:title>
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		<media:content url="http://1.gravatar.com/avatar/a069e8b4ff0dc386def0882f71bbfee6?s=96&#38;d=http%3A%2F%2Fs0.wp.com%2Fi%2Fmu.gif&#38;r=G" medium="image">
			<media:title type="html">Laura Blue</media:title>
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		<item>
		<title>Human Kindness Genes Withstand Threats and Fear</title>
		<link>http://healthland.time.com/2012/04/16/human-kindness-genes-withstand-threats-and-fear/</link>
		<comments>http://healthland.time.com/2012/04/16/human-kindness-genes-withstand-threats-and-fear/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 16 Apr 2012 16:45:37 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Maia Szalavitz</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Empathy]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Mental Health]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[altruism]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[AVPR1]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[empathy]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[genetics]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[kindness]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[oxytocin]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[vasopressin]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://healthland.time.com/?p=57539</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[What makes people behave kindly? Is it the result of having been nurtured in an environment of love and kindness that makes you more likely to treat others the same way? Or perhaps personal experiences of threat and deprivation make you more attuned to the suffering of others? Or maybe it’s just a matter of genes? As with so many human tendencies, displays of kindness are likely to be influenced by both environment and genes. People who have genes that predispose them to empathy and kindness, for example, are steadfast in their charitable behavior, regardless of their current environment, a new study finds. But people with genes that are linked to a weaker inclination toward altruism tend to reduce their charitable behavior and commitment to civic responsibilities, such as political action or jury duty, when they have heightened feelings of fear or being threatened. (MORE: Humble People Are More Helpful) The study included 348 American residents with European ancestry. Researchers gauged participants&#8217; overall sense of the world as a socially safe or threatening place, by noting how much they agreed with statements like “Human nature is basically good” or “There is more good in the world than bad.” Researchers also asked about the participants&#8217; charitable activities and commitment to civic duties. Charitable behaviors included volunteering, giving blood and participating in community groups. Civic commitment was measured by examining participants&#8217; responses to questionnaire items related to serving on a jury or paying taxes, even when those duties seem onerous or seemed unfair. Participants’ DNA was also examined for the presence of three genes that previous research has linked with social behavior and altruism. The first was a gene that influences the brain receptor for oxytocin, a hormone linked with trust and with the forging of intimate human relationships, between family members, lovers or friends. (MORE: An Evolutionary Explanation for Altruism: Girls Find It Sexy) The gene comes in three variants: A/A, A/G or G/G. The G/G version has previously been linked with greater maternal sensitivity to children, increased empathy, more positive<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=healthland.time.com&#038;blog=8684427&#038;post=57539&#038;subd=timewellness&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://healthland.time.com/2012/04/16/human-kindness-genes-withstand-threats-and-fear/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
	<primary_category>Empathy</primary_category><primary_category_link>http://healthland.time.com/category/mental-health/empathy-mental-health/</primary_category_link><featured_image>http://timewellness.files.wordpress.com/2012/04/kindness-empathy.jpg?w=240</featured_image>
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			<media:title type="html">kindness empathy</media:title>
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			<media:title type="html">MaiaSzalavitz</media:title>
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		<title>Greg Smith&#8217;s Resignation: Are Wall Street Traders Psychopathic?</title>
		<link>http://healthland.time.com/2012/03/15/greg-smiths-resignation-are-wall-street-traders-psychopathic/</link>
		<comments>http://healthland.time.com/2012/03/15/greg-smiths-resignation-are-wall-street-traders-psychopathic/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 15 Mar 2012 19:10:00 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Maia Szalavitz</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Empathy]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Mental Health]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://healthland.time.com/?p=55456</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[A Goldman Sachs executive's recent scathing op-ed in the New York <i>Times</i> excoriated the firm’s greedy values. Which leads one to wonder, Are Wall Street types more psychopathic than the rest of us?<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=healthland.time.com&#038;blog=8684427&#038;post=55456&#038;subd=timewellness&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://healthland.time.com/2012/03/15/greg-smiths-resignation-are-wall-street-traders-psychopathic/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
	<primary_category>Empathy</primary_category><primary_category_link>http://healthland.time.com/category/mental-health/empathy-mental-health/</primary_category_link><featured_image>http://timewellness.files.wordpress.com/2012/03/484397a.jpg?w=240</featured_image>
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			<media:title type="html">484397a</media:title>
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			<media:title type="html">MaiaSzalavitz</media:title>
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		<title>Is Your Cell Phone Making You a Jerk?</title>
		<link>http://healthland.time.com/2012/02/20/is-your-cell-phone-making-you-a-jerk/</link>
		<comments>http://healthland.time.com/2012/02/20/is-your-cell-phone-making-you-a-jerk/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 20 Feb 2012 12:00:21 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Alexandra Sifferlin</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Empathy]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Mental Health]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[cell phones]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[empathy]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[prosocial behavior]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://healthland.time.com/?p=53728</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Cell phones keep us socially connected, but new research suggests they actually reduce users&#8217; social consciousness. In fact, the study showed that cell phone use was linked to more selfish behavior. Researchers from the University of Maryland&#8217;s Robert H. Smith School of Business found that after a short period of cell phone use, people were less likely to partake in “prosocial” behavior — actions that are intended to help another person or society — compared with a control group. For example, after using a cell phone, study participants were more likely to turn down volunteer opportunities and were less persistent in completing word problems, even though they knew their answers would provide money for charity. The same drop in prosocial tendencies occurred even when participants were simply asked draw a picture of their cell phones and think about using them. The study involved college men and women in their 20s, but the researchers think the findings would apply to any group. So why would an innocuous thing like making a cell phone call make a person less giving? The researchers think it has to do with feelings of social connectedness. All humans have a fundamental need to connect with others — but once that need is met, say by using a cell phone, it naturally reduces our inclination to feel empathy or engage in helping behavior toward others. &#8220;The cell phone directly evokes feelings of connectivity to others, thereby fulfilling the basic human need to belong,&#8221; said study author and marketing professor Rosellina Ferraro in a statement. Previous research shores up the theory. In October, researchers at the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University looked at the effect of social support on people&#8217;s attitudes toward others outside of their social circle. The researchers found that those who had a strong sense of belonging to a social circle were more likely to &#8220;dehumanize&#8221; other groups and more likely to treat them unkindly. Healthland&#8217;s Maia Szalavitz reported at the time: &#8220;[S]ocial connection is sort of like eating. When you are hungry,<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=healthland.time.com&#038;blog=8684427&#038;post=53728&#038;subd=timewellness&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://healthland.time.com/2012/02/20/is-your-cell-phone-making-you-a-jerk/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>3</slash:comments>
	<primary_category>Empathy</primary_category><primary_category_link>http://healthland.time.com/category/mental-health/empathy-mental-health/</primary_category_link><featured_image>http://timewellness.files.wordpress.com/2012/02/cell-phones-and-selfishness.jpg?w=240</featured_image>
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			<media:title type="html">asifferlin</media:title>
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