We hypothesized that high-socially-anxious individuals (HSA) may exhibit elevated mentalizing and empathic abilities.”

The research methods were as follows: “Empathy was assessed using self-rating scales in HSA individuals (n=21) and low-socially-anxious (LSA) individuals (n=22), based on their score on the Liebowitz social anxiety scale. A computerized task was used to assess the ability to judge first and second order affective vs. cognitive mental state attributions.”

Remarkably, the scientists found that a large portion of people with social anxiety disorder are gifted empaths —

people whose right-brains are operating significantly above normal levels and are able to perceive the physical sensitivities, spiritual urges, motivations, and intentions of other people around them (see Dr. Jill Bolte Taylor’s TED Talk below for a powerful explanation of this ability).

The team’s conclusion reads: “Results support the hypothesis that high-socially-anxious individuals demonstrate a unique profile of social-cognitive abilities with elevated cognitive empathy tendencies and high accuracy in affective mental state attributions…”

Empaths who have fully embraced their abilities are able to function on a purely intuition-based level.