Challenges in the comparative study of empathy and related phenomena in animals

Emotional contagion, the emotional state-matching of an individual with another, seems to be crucial for many social species. In recent years evidence on emotional contagion in different animal species has accumulated. However, despite its adaptative advantages and its presumed simplicity, the study and direct demonstration of this phenomenon present more complexities than previously thought. For these reasons, a review of the literature on emotional contagion in nonhuman species is timely to integrate current findings. In this paper thus, we carry out a comprehensive review of the most relevant studies on emotional contagion in animals and discuss the main problems and challenges of the field. We conclude that more research is needed to broaden our understanding of the mechanisms and functions of emotional contagion and the extent to which this process is present in a wide variety of species. Furthermore, the comparative study of emotional contagion would benefit from the use of systematized paradigms including both behavioral and physiological measures and the simultaneous recording of the responses of the interacting individuals to reliably assess an emotional state-matching between them and reliable controls. This article is categorized under: Cognitive Biology > Evolutionary Roots of Cognition Psychology > Comparative Psychology Psychology > Emotion and Motivation.

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1002/wcs.1560

Emotional contagion in nonhuman animals: A review.

https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa50873/Download/0050873-15072019082533.pdf

Fear contagion in zebrafish: a behaviour affected by familiarity

In this paper, we argue that scientists working on the animal morality debate have been operating with a narrow view of morality that prematurely limits the variety of moral practices that animals ...

/pdf/tactful-animals-how-the-study-of-touch-can-inform-the-animal-5gavpt0y56.pdf

Tactful animals: How the study of touch can inform the animal morality debate

Complex distress calls sound frightening: the case of the weeping lizard

Vocal communication is used across the animal kingdom to transfer information from emitters to receivers, such as size, sex, age, dominance status or even emotional states. The transmission of an emotional state from one individual to another is called “emotional contagion” and is classified as the first level of empathy. Emotional contagion is thought to be stronger between familiar individuals. While affiliation represents a stronger relation between individuals than mere familiarity, it remains understudied whether affiliation modulates emotional reactions as well. Using cockatiels (Nymphicus hollandicus), we played back three types of audio stimuli to individual birds: a partner’s distress call (emitted when birds are caught or forcibly restrained), a non-partner’s distress call, and a control sound (white noise). The calls were recorded from familiar birds with either low (non–partners) or high levels of affiliation (partners). The subjects’ response was scored using four behavioural parameters: the time spent near the loudspeaker, the amount of movements, the number of calls emitted, and the position of the crest. Across all variables, birds were more attentive and active when confronted to distress calls compared to control sounds, particularly when the distress call was emitted from a partner rather than a non-partner. These results raise the possibility that distress calls do not only function as a stimulus-triggering automatic reaction in cockatiels but also transmit emotions. Moreover, affiliation enhanced emotional reactions to conspecific distress calls. Our data provides first insights into the mechanisms of emotional contagion in parrots.

/pdf/emotional-responses-to-conspecific-distress-calls-are-tdfk8261jt.pdf

Emotional responses to conspecific distress calls are modulated by affiliation in cockatiels (Nymphicus hollandicus).

Emotional contagion in response to distress calls in cockatiels (Nymphicus hollandicus)

Emotional contagion in response to distress calls in cockatiels

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Emotional responses to conspecific distress calls are modulated by affiliation in cockatiels (Nymphicus hollandicus).

Emotional contagion in response to distress calls in cockatiels (Nymphicus hollandicus)

Emotional contagion in response to distress calls in cockatiels