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.