Empathy and morality: Point of meeting (foreign literature review)

Abstract

Morality and empathy are foundational components of human life in every culture. The abundance of empirical results obtained by researchers in such felds as developmental psychology, psychology of emotions and neurocognitive psychology confrms that there is a complex relation between empathy and moral judgment. Thus, data reveal that empathy either facilitates a moral judgment or choice or prevents it, due to the multi-component mechanism of the empathic experience. This paper reviews current studies, drawn from proximate areas of psychology, that show the role of motivational, emotional and cognitive components of empathy in situations of moral choice.