Empathy and Oxidative Stress in Healthy Adults
1
Department of Human Biology, University of Wrocław, 50-138 Wrocław, Poland
2
Institute of Psychology, University of Wrocław, 50-527 Wrocław, Poland
3
Institute of Education and Communication Research, Silesian University of Technology, 44-100 Gliwice, Poland
*
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Sustainability 2020, 12(12), 4959; https://doi.org/10.3390/su12124959
Received: 26 April 2020 / Revised: 3 June 2020 / Accepted: 15 June 2020 / Published: 18 June 2020
(This article belongs to the Section Psychology of Sustainability and Sustainable Development)
Empathy is crucial for normal and effective social functioning, enabling comprehension and prediction of actions in social environments. Despite its importance for maintaining social relationships in human groups, the physiological correlates of empathy are not fully known. The aim of this study was to test whether empathy is related to oxidative stress level, that may result both from internal disturbances and influence of external adverse factors. Seventy-four healthy women (Mage = 26.23, SDage = 2.88) and one hundred and one men (Mage = 28.09, SDage = 3.03) took part in the study. Participants’ empathy was evaluated with self-assessment questionnaire—Empathy Quotient (EQ). Oxidative stress level was measured with serum 8-OH-dG, a product of oxidative DNA damage. The results showed that empathy is negatively related to oxidative stress level in men but not in women, when controlled for testosterone level. Revealed sex differences may be explained by men’s greater vulnerability to various adverse conditions and harmful factors. Men, compared to women, seem to be more susceptible to behavioral changes, induced by increased oxidative stress level. The study adds to growing evidence showing that many physiological mechanisms, other than hormonal factors, that may be also related with environmental harmful factors, are related to behavioral, affective and cognitive phenomena.
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Keywords:
8-OH-dG; inter-individual comparison; physiology; sex differences; social behavior; testosterone
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MDPI and ACS Style
Żelaźniewicz, A.; Nowak, J.; Groyecka, A.; Sorokowski, P.; Dobrowolska, M.; Pawłowski, B. Empathy and Oxidative Stress in Healthy Adults. Sustainability 2020, 12, 4959. https://doi.org/10.3390/su12124959
AMA Style
Żelaźniewicz A, Nowak J, Groyecka A, Sorokowski P, Dobrowolska M, Pawłowski B. Empathy and Oxidative Stress in Healthy Adults. Sustainability. 2020; 12(12):4959. https://doi.org/10.3390/su12124959
Chicago/Turabian StyleŻelaźniewicz, Agnieszka, Judyta Nowak, Agata Groyecka, Piotr Sorokowski, Małgorzata Dobrowolska, and Bogusław Pawłowski. 2020. "Empathy and Oxidative Stress in Healthy Adults" Sustainability 12, no. 12: 4959. https://doi.org/10.3390/su12124959
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