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  • Title: When to use your head and when to use your heart: the differential value of perspective-taking versus empathy in competitive interactions.
    Author: Gilin D, Maddux WW, Carpenter J, Galinsky AD.
    Journal: Pers Soc Psychol Bull; 2013 Jan; 39(1):3-16. PubMed ID: 23150199.
    Abstract:
    Four studies explored whether perspective-taking and empathy would be differentially effective in mixed-motive competitions depending on whether the critical skills for success were more cognitively or emotionally based. Study 1 demonstrated that individual differences in perspective-taking, but not empathy, predicted increased distributive and integrative performance in a multiple-round war game that required a clear understanding of an opponent's strategic intentions. Conversely, both measures and manipulations of empathy proved more advantageous than perspective-taking in a relationship-based coalition game that required identifying the strength of interpersonal connections (Studies 2-3). Study 4 established a key process: perspective-takers were more accurate in cognitive understanding of others, whereas empathy produced stronger accuracy in emotional understanding. Perspective-taking and empathy were each useful but in different types of competitive, mixed-motive situations-their success depended on the task-competency match. These results demonstrate when to use your head versus your heart to achieve the best outcomes for oneself.
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