empathy

The Veterinary Mental Health Initiative, which offers free support groups and one-on-one help to vets across the country, has helped Razyeeh Mazaheri work through the anxiety she was feeling.

It's not just doctors and nurses. Veterinarians are burning out, too

11:53am April 08, 2022

by April Dembosky

A spike in pandemic pets is increasing shortages and burnout among veterinarians — a field that already had high rates of suicide. A new mental health initiative offers professional help for free.

People embrace last month in Minneapolis after the verdict is announced in the trial of former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin in the killing of George Floyd.

National

10 Questions About Empathy In America, A Year After George Floyd's Death

1:21pm May 25, 2021

by Bill Chappell

We asked two scholars who have spent decades studying empathy and bias to discuss what they've seen in the past year. They offer their view of what has changed — and what has not.

A male bonobo at Lola yo Bonobo sanctuary. Only about 20,000 wild bonobos are left, and they are found only in the central rainforests of the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Saving Endangered Bonobos Teaches A Lesson In Empathy

7:05am April 03, 2021

by Jon Hamilton

At an animal sanctuary in the Congo, young students are learning why the gentle, endangered apes known as bonobos should be seen as a national treasure.

Social workers know "compassion fatigue" is a risk of the job, and have learned ways stay healthy and empathetic.

Helping Hands Need A Break, Too: How To Lend Support Without Burning Out

7:00am October 17, 2020

These days, there are hundreds of reasons to open your heart to others, but it's easy to get exhausted. Try these tips honed by social workers for staying healthy and empathetic.

Faced with a rat trapped in a restrainer, a free rat opens the trap's door to liberate the trapped animal (while stepping on its head — "very rat-ish behavior," says University of Chicago neurobiologist Peggy Mason).

To Come To The Rescue Or Not? Rats, Like People, Take Cues From Bystanders

4:50pm July 08, 2020

by Nell Greenfieldboyce

Experiments in people have long shown that the presence of indifferent bystanders hurts the chances that someone will help a stranger in an emergency. Rats, it turns out, behave the same way.

Queue Listen Now

Lual Mayen, CEO of Junub Games, says that before he taught himself how to code at a refugee camp, "I never thought video games were made by people. I thought they just fall from heaven."

A Kid In A Refugee Camp Thought Video Games Fell From Heaven. Now He Makes Them

12:00pm December 11, 2019

by Emily Vaughn

Lual Mayen grew up in a camp in Uganda. Now he's the award-winning CEO of a game development company in Washington, D.C., that has just released 'Salaam' — a game about refugees and peace.

The War For Kindness: Building Empathy in a Fractured World, by Jamil Zaki

'A War For Kindness' Favors The Practical Over Polemical

10:21am June 05, 2019

by Nicholas Cannariato

If you want a clarion call to action, Jamil Zaki's new book might not be it. But if you want a wide-ranging practical guide to making the world better, then you're in luck.

Studies show that when doctors practice compassion, patients fare better, and doctors experience less burnout.

Health & Safety

Does Taking Time For Compassion Make Doctors Better At Their Jobs?

10:29am April 26, 2019

by L. Carol Ritchie

In their new book Compassionomics, two doctors review the field of compassion research. Their finding? When physicians take time to connect and express care, both patients and doctors benefit.

Health & Safety

Does Empathy Have A Dark Side?

2:46pm April 12, 2019

by Jonathan Lambert

It's good to feel empathy, right? Not always, according to a forthcoming book. Humans are empathetic beings, and we sometimes harm others, not out of a failure of empathy, but because of it.

When it comes to making decisions, very different types of leaders have at least one thing in common, research suggests.

What Makes A Leader?

2:00pm August 02, 2018

by Nell Greenfieldboyce

Leaders make decisions for a group in the same way they make choices for themselves, a study suggests. They don't change their decision-making behavior, even when the welfare of others is at stake.