ArticlePloS one2021
Empathy and its associations with age and sociodemographic characteristics in a large UK population sample.
Article in PloS one, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 22 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
22 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 54 citations in OpenAlex.
- Empathy in Adults with Acquired Brain Injury: a Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.Neuropsychology review · 2026Pooled it
- The association between empathy and burnout in medical students: a systematic review and meta-analysis.BMC medical education · 2024Pooled it
- Assessing perceived empathy based on genetic counselor gender using a randomized, hypothetical prenatal genetic counseling scenario design.Journal of genetic counseling · 2025Trial
- Cognitive and affective empathy predict young children's involvement in bullying one year later.JCPP advances · 2026Article
- Article
- Empathy dimensions and patient-centered care during dental training: a cross-sectional study.BMC medical education · 2026Article
- Assessing self-reported empathy among chiropractic students at a South African university.The Journal of chiropractic education · 2026Article
- The mediating role of emotional empathy in the relationship between adverse childhood experiences and misophonia: a structural equation modeling.Frontiers in psychology · 2026Article
- Network analysis of empathy, anxiety and depression symptoms, relationship satisfaction, sensory processing sensitivity, and alexithymia.Scientific reports · 2025Article
- Cross-Sectional Trajectories of Social Cognition in Later Life: Exploring Emotion Perception, Theory of Mind, and Emotional Empathy.Archives of clinical neuropsychology : the official journal of the National Academy of Neuropsychologists · 2025Article
- Interplay of plasma Oxytocin and oxytocin receptor gene methylation levels on empathy in older adults.Scientific reports · 2025Article
- Empathy and Mentalizing of Mental Health Nurses: A Cross-Sectional Correlational Study.International journal of mental health nursing · 2025Observational
- Empathy is associated with older adults' social behaviors and verbal emotional expressions throughout the day.Scientific reports · 2025Article
- Sibling empathy among preschoolers in China: analyzing emotional responses and family influences.Frontiers in psychology · 2025Article
- The Empathetic Involvement of Nurses in the Context of Neuroscience: A Mixed-Methods Study.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2024Article
- The Concept of Prosociality in Later Life and Its Dimensions: A Scoping Review.Iranian journal of psychiatry · 2024Article
- Psychometric evaluation of the 'Jefferson Scale of Empathy' in a sample of nursing students in the United Kingdom.Nursing open · 2024Article
- Resilience and empathy in pharmacy interns: Insights from a three-year cohort study.Exploratory research in clinical and social pharmacy · 2023Article
- Oxytocin-Receptor Gene Modulates Reward-Network Connection and Relationship with Empathy Performance.Psychology research and behavior management · 2023Article
- Investigating the Relationship between Facial Mimicry and Empathy.Behavioral sciences (Basel, Switzerland) · 2022Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
5 authors at 2 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
Abstract
objectivesEmpathy is fundamental to social cognition, driving prosocial behaviour and mental health but associations with aging and other socio-demographic characteristics are unclear. We therefore aimed to characterise associations of these characteristics with two main self-reported components of empathy, namely empathic-concern (feeling compassion) and perspective-taking (understanding others' perspective).
methodsWe asked participants in an internet-based survey of UK-dwelling adults aged ≥18 years to complete the Interpersonal Reactivity Index subscales measuring empathic concern and perspective taking, and sociodemographic and personality questionnaires. We weighted the sample to be UK population representative and employed multivariable weighted linear regression models.
resultsIn 30,033 respondents, mean empathic concern score was 3.86 (95% confidence interval 3.85, 3.88) and perspective taking was 3.57 (3.56. 3.59); the correlation between these sub-scores was 0.45 (p < 0.001). Empathic concern and perspective taking followed an inverse-u shape trajectory in women with peak between 40 and 50 years whereas in men, perspective taking declines with age but empathic concern increases. In fully adjusted models, greater empathic concern was associated with female gender, non-white ethnicity, having more education, working in health, social-care, or childcare professions, and having higher neuroticism, extroversion, openness to experience and agreeableness traits. Perspective taking was associated with younger age, female gender, more education, employment in health or social-care, neuroticism, openness, and agreeableness.
conclusionsEmpathic compassion and understanding are distinct dimensions of empathy with differential demographic associations. Perspective taking may decline due to cognitive inflexibility with older age whereas empathic concern increases in older men suggesting it is socially-driven.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.