Stress from the presence of strangers prevents empathy, in both mice and humans

The ability to express empathy—the capacity to share and feel another’s emotions—is limited by the stress of being around strangers, according to a new study published today in the journal Current Biology

In the new study, Mogil and his team compared the reactions of undergraduate students to painful stimuli in various scenarios: alone; with a friend; with a stranger; between two strangers given a stress-blocking drug; and between two strangers who had spent 15 minutes playing the video game Rock Band prior to testing.

The student participants were asked to submerge their arm in ice-cold water and rate their pain. These pain scores remained the same whether they experienced the pain alone or sitting across from a stranger. However, the pain actually increased when these students put their arms in ice water across from a friend.