Men Around the World Really Do Lack Empathy
Find out how you rank on the ability to get in other peoples’ shoes
Empathy is not my strong suit. My ability to read the emotions of others and see things from their perspective is modest at best. Sure, I cry during sappy movies and dog food commercials, but in real life I often avoid getting overly entangled in other people’s feelings.
My lack of empathy was confirmed by taking an online Brain Type survey created by scientists at the University of Cambridge (more on this below). I’m not devoid of empathy nor even super low, the survey revealed, just below average. It also revealed I have a very strong tendency to systematize things, seeking to identify patterns and analyze or construct systems, be they in nature or created by technology.
When I reported these results to my wife, she merely nodded and laughed, an unspoken duh!
I’m not the only guy running low on empathy, you might’ve guessed.
Women are, on average, better than men at empathy, defined as “the ability to understand another person’s thoughts and feelings and to respond to these with an appropriate emotion,” according to a new analysis of 305,726 people in 57 countries.
