我们能学会与陌生人产生共鸣吗？ [美国媒体]

Can We Learn to Empathize With Strangers?

我们能学会与陌生人产生共鸣吗？

We can learn to empathize with strangers. Surprisingly positive experiences with people from another group trigger a learning effect in the brain, which increases empathy. As researchers from Radboud University and colleagues from Switserland reveal, only a handful of positive learning experiences already suffice for a person to become more empathic.

事实上，我们可以学会与陌生人产生共鸣。与陌生人进行充满正能量的互动，能够启动大脑的学习机制，使人增强同感心。来自Radboud大学的研究者与瑞士的同行一起研究发现，屈指可数的几次正能量学习经验就足以使一个人变得更有同感心。

Conflicts between people from different nationalities and cultures often stem from a lack of empathy or compassion for “the stranger”. More empathy for members of other groups could thus encourage peaceful coexistence. A study conducted by the University of Zurich examined whether empathy with strangers can be learned and how positive experiences with others influence empathic brain responses.

来自不同国家、不同文化之间的人容易发生争斗，通常是由缺乏对“陌生人”的同感心或者同情心导致的。因此，如果人们能对他人怀有更深的同感心，那么和平共处就会变得容易得多。针对人们是否能学会与陌生人产生共鸣以及与他人充满正能量的互动会对脑部产生何种影响这两个问题，Zurich大学组织了一次研究。

Surprising behavior influences learning

意外的举止影响同感心的习得

A team of psychologists and neuroscientists measured brain activation in participants who had had positive experiences with a member of their own group (in-group member) or another group (out-group member). During the test, the participants expected to receive painful shocks to the backs of their hands. However, they also discovered that a member of their own or another group could pay money to spare them pain. The brain activation while observing pain in a person from one’s own or another group was recorded before and after these experiences.

由心理学家和神经科学家组成的研究队伍对刚与他人互动完的人进行了脑兴奋度的检测。在这个实验中，参与者会与自己同组的人（组内成员）或者另一个组的人（组外成员）进行正能量的互动。首先，参与者被告知将要对他们的手背施加疼痛刺激，然后他们会发现自己组里的人或者另一个组的人付了钱来使自己免遭疼痛。在参与者看到他人受苦之前，他们的脑兴奋度将会被记录下来；当他们看到他人受苦之后，脑兴奋度将会被再次记录。



Refugees from the Heumensoord shelter ask for help in the Radboud University canteen. Image is adapted from the Radboud University press release.

来自Heumensoord庇护所的难民在Radboud大学的小卖部寻求帮助。

At the beginning of the study, the stranger’s pain triggered a weaker brain activation in the participant than if a member of his or her own group was affected. However, only a handful of positive experiences with someone from the stranger’s group led to a significant increase in empathic brain responses if pain was inflicted on a different person from the out-group. The stronger the positive experience with the stranger was, the greater was the increase in neuronal empathy.

实验刚开始时，人们看到组外成员遭受痛苦时产生的脑兴奋度要低于看到组内成员受苦时的脑兴奋度。但是，只要与另一组的某一成员进行寥寥几次正能量互动，及时看到另一组中其他人遭受痛苦，参与者因同感心而导致的脑兴奋度就会显着增加。而且与陌生人的互动正能量越足，神经所产生的同感兴奋度越强。

Societal impact

社会的影响

The effect lasts at least twenty minutes after the experience of helping, says Jan Engelmann from the Donders Institute of Brain Cognition and Behaviour at Radboud University. ‘Beyond that, it is hard to tell and would require additional research. One very reasonable assumption would be that this works similar to positive reinforcement, or Pavlovian learning. That would mean that somewhat repeated exposure to postive experiences is required to avoid extinction. This is something we will look into in future studies.’

在受到帮助后，神经系统产生的影响会持续至少二十分钟，来自Radboud大学Donders脑知觉和行为研究所的Jan Engelmann说。‘除此之外，目前还很难得出其他结论，我们将进行其他相关研究。一种比较可信的解释是，这类似于正反馈加强，或者巴普洛夫学习实验。或者说，为了避免这种影响消失，需要重复进行正反馈经验。在未来的研究中，我们会对此进行观察。’

He adds: ‘Increasing empathy toward strangers offers a promising way to master the current refugee crisis in a peaceful way. In our research we aimed at finding an efficient intervention to enhance empathy towards outgroup members. We show that very simple, but repeated positive interactions with strangers can induce positive emotions that lead to greater levels of empathy towards them. Our hopes are that our findings will inspire further research that eventually leads to neurobiologically informed interventions that allow people from different cultures to enrich each others’ lives.’

他补充说：‘增强对陌生人的同感心有利于和平解决近来发生的难民危机。这次研究的目标是找到一种有效干涉对组外成员产生同感心的方法。我们发现这很简单，只需要与陌生人重复进行正能量互动，就能产生积极的心态，最终对陌生人产生更强的同感心。希望我们的发现能够抛砖引玉，最终找到有效的神经生物学干涉方法，使不同文化背景的人们和平共处，使彼此的生活更为多姿多彩。’