Uma Proposta Operacional de Empatia de Acordo Com a Análise do Comportamento

Abstract

The phenomenon of empathy, its conceptualizations and theoretical approach, has gained more and more focus in the academic environment and in scientific research, however, it collides with the divergence of the concepts used, such disagreement makes it difficult for research in the scope of experimental analysis or in applied behavior analysis of empathy are developed. The present work analyzed 372 scientific articles published in the last 21 years, through a bibliographical review, looking for some original definition of empathy in that article. In the event of a definition, a description of some element that was a condition for the definition to occur was recorded, characterizing an "preceding event", as well as a description presenting expectations of scenarios resulting from the definition, which could be understood as a resulting "consequence" of that definition presented. Of the 6 results of this research, none of them were in accordance with the precepts of behavior analysis, with no antecedent representation of the concept or consequence that could control the emission of the empathic response being absent. In this way, a methodological way of interpreting empathy as a behavior, as such, subject to the triple contingency molds, is discussed, which would allow new interpretations of this phenomenon, as well as an expansion of research on this theme.