Testing the qualitative differences between empathy and personal distress: Measuring core affect and self-orientation

• Emotional valence and orientation are tested in empathic concern and personal distress.
• When personal distress prevails the emotional experience can be characterized as an unpleasant and high arousal.
• When empathy prevails the results reveal a less clear pattern for emotional valence.
• Concerning the self-orientation it seems to be higher when personal distress prevails over empathy.

In two studies the emotional valence, the level of arousal and self-orientation of empathic concern and personal distress are tested. The empathic concern prevalence versus personal distress prevalence is induced through pictures in Study 1 (N = 62) and perspective-taking instructions in Study 2 (N = 60). Results of Study 1 show that participants in the personal distress-prevalence condition report significantly more negative emotional valence (d = .65), higher arousal (d = .48), and higher self-orientation (d = .57) than participants in the empathic concern-prevalence condition. Results of Study 2 show that participants in the self-oriented condition report the highest arousal, followed by participants in the other-oriented condition, and the objective condition (ηp2 = .58). Concerning the increase of self-orientation, results show that it is mediated by the personal distress induced by self-perspective instructions. Similar results in emotional valence were found between self- and other-oriented conditions.