Imagine you're a college student who just went through a big breakup. You're so depressed that you're having trouble finishing an essay for a certain class, and you're hoping that you can plead your case and get the essay's deadline pushed back. You've heard through the grapevine that the teaching assistant recently went through a breakup, and you also know that the professor has been in a happy marriage for 30 years. Who do you choose to hear your request? If you think it's the TA, you're wrong. Science says so.
Empathy, Schmempathy
Keep Your Shoes On
The Neurochemistry of Empathy
Listening to a sad story does something interesting to people's brains—and the things they do afterward.
Written by
Ashley Hamer
November 18, 2016
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