Empathic Accuracy

William Ickes, Ph.D., Professor of Psychology at the University of Texas at Arlington, has studied naturally occurring social interaction for two decades. His research over the past ten years has focused more specifically on naturally occurring social cognition and empathic accuracy.

"The book is a compendium of state-of-the-art research on one of the most important and interesting topics at the interface of social and personality psychology--when and how do we know what another person is thinking and feeling? The 11 chapters cover a wide range of research and theory, and the level of their quality is amazingly even: Each one is excellent. William Ickes, one of the major contributors to this research area, has done an impressive job recruiting a real 'Who's Who' of researchers to contribute to his book. The book provides a necessary and perhaps even sufficient education for any reader interested in what psychologists have learned about empathic accuracy. It presents new data, meta-analyses, and several theoretical perspectives both old and new. This book is a 'must-have' for anybody doing research on empathy or accuracy in personality judgment, and would also make a terrific resource for constructing up-to-date course lectures in social and personality psychology. The fields of social and personality psychology seem to be becoming more interrelated and more interesting all the time; the book demonstrates one important reason why." --David F. Funder, Department of Psychology, University of California, Riverside"This groundbreaking book refines our grasp of a fundamental concept--the empathic understanding of another person's thoughts and feelings. Extending beyond the more traditional definitions of empathy that focus on emotional matching in one's own and another's feelings, the concept of empathic accuracy provides the building blocks for interpersonal skills and healthy relationships. Attesting to this, the present volume includes contributions from some of the most renowned researchers in the area of interpersonal relationships, and also from an illustrious set of researchers examining individual differences in empathy and its development. The relevance to clinical issues is also an important theme in the book and is handled in a cogent, helpful way. William Ickes's research on empathic accuracy has quietly revolutionized the field, and this is reflected in the present volume. His work has not only uncovered basic processes in empathic understanding, but has also contributed to our understanding of the ways in which empathic accuracy is of profound societal significance. Drawing together this exceptional set of experts to address empathic accuracy in a single volume is a major contribution. The book is likely to be widely read by professionals and graduate students alike, and to become a standard in the field." --Susan M. Andersen, Ph.D., Professor of Psychology, New York University; Former Associate Editor of Journal of Personality and Social Psychology"The chapters in this book bring to bear a rigorous scientific approach to the study of empathic accuracy. Introducing ideas from evolutionary theory, psychophysiology, and social cognition, these chapters provide refreshing and thought-provoking new perspectives for the study of empathic accuracy. This unique volume will likely set the agenda for the next generation of theorizing and research. It is a 'must' read for anyone interested in how empathy affects human interaction." --Harry T. Reis, Ph.D., University of Rochester - The kind of book that is all too rare in the sociopsychological sciences: an immensely readable, professionally highly competent tome on a topic that is inherently difficult to investigate....This is a book of very hard-headed theory and research, by top-notch scientists....Richly deserves to be read by workers in any of the mental health professions, as well as by workers in social and developmental psychology, sociology, family studies, and education. --Psychiatric Services, 1/17/1997ƒƒ The book is uniformly well written....Researchers interested in empathic accuracy...should find this volume invaluable....The book should be of interest to researchers in the emotions and relationships field and to communications researchers....There is also much here that should be of interest and helpful to clinical researchers and practitioners....We liked this book. We enjoyed reading it, discussing it, and reviewing it. We commend it to others. --Contemporary Psychology, 1/17/1997

• Introduction, William Ickes1. Communicative Genes and the Evolution of Empathy, Ross Buck and Benson Ginsburg2. Physiological Aspects of Emotional Knowledge and Rapport, Robert W. Levenson and Anna M. Ruef3. The Development of Empathic Accuracy, Nancy Eisenberg, Bridget C. Murphy, and Stephanie Shepard4. When Women's Intuition Isn't Greater than Men's, Tiffany Graham and William Ickes5.Personality and Empathic Accuracy, Mark H. Davis and Linda A. Kraus6. Why Do Friends Understand Each Other Better than Strangers Do?, C. Randall Colvin, Dawne S. Vogt, and William Ickes7. Empathic Accuracy in Close Relationships, Geoff Thomas and Garth J. O. Fletcher8. Managing Empathic Accuracy in Close Relationships, William Ickes and Jeffry A. Simpson9.Empathic Accuracy and Marital Conflict Resolution, Victor L. Bissonnette, Caryl E. Rusbult, and Shelley D. Kilpatrick10. Studying Empathic Accuracy in a Clinically Relevant Context, William Ickes, Carol Marangoni, and Stella Garcia11.Automatic and Controlled Empathy, Sara Hodges and Daniel M. Wegner