How Different Ways of Taking Someone Else’s Perspective Affect Health and Well‑Being

Summary: The way we choose to empathize with others—either by imagining how they feel or by imagining ourselves in their situation—can influence our stress physiology and long‑term well‑being, a new study reports.

Source: University at Buffalo

New research published in the Journal of Experimental Psychology suggests that the common advice to “walk a mile in someone else’s shoes” may have unintended consequences for the helper.

Michael Poulin, an associate professor in the University at Buffalo Department of Psychology and co‑author of the study, explains that there are two distinct routes to empathy and that they differ in how distressing they are for the person offering help. The study was led by University of Pennsylvania psychologist Anneke E. K. Buffone, who conducted the research while a PhD student at UB.

The study distinguishes between two perspective‑taking strategies. Imagine‑other perspective‑taking (IOPT) involves observing another person and inferring how they feel—acknowledging their emotions without adopting them. Imagine‑self perspective‑taking (ISPT) requires mentally placing oneself in the other person’s situation—effectively “walking in their shoes” and experiencing those feelings as if they were one’s own.

“You can understand what someone else is feeling without taking those feelings into yourself (IOPT),” Poulin says. “By contrast, when you put yourself directly into someone else’s situation (ISPT), you are more likely to feel personal sadness or distress.”

Previous studies asked people to report how they felt after helping someone else, but Poulin and colleagues took a different approach. They measured physiological markers of stress while participants were actively engaged in helping behavior, seeking objective evidence of whether perspective‑taking produced personal anxiety or threat responses.

The researchers used cardiovascular measures that reliably indicate a threat or anxiety response. Poulin explains, “When people feel threatened or anxious, peripheral blood vessels constrict, making it harder for the heart to pump blood through the body. In the lab, we can detect that physiological pattern. Participants engaged in imagine‑self perspective‑taking (ISPT) showed greater levels of this threat response compared with those using imagine‑other perspective‑taking (IOPT).”

These findings add a physiological dimension to how perspective‑taking influences a helper’s health and well‑being. If helpers repeatedly adopt the imagine‑self strategy, they may be at greater risk of stress and emotional burden over time.

These results have practical implications for professions that involve frequent exposure to others’ pain and suffering. In medicine, nursing, social work, teaching and customer service, habitual use of imagine‑self perspective‑taking may contribute to burnout and emotional exhaustion.

“Many healthcare professionals see so much pain and suffering that it eventually affects their careers,” Poulin notes. “That may occur because they regularly put themselves in their patients’ shoes (ISPT). If we can train professionals to engage more often in imagine‑other perspective‑taking (IOPT), they may remain compassionate without internalizing all of the distress.”

The authors suggest that training programs could teach helpers how to acknowledge and validate another person’s emotions—expressing understanding and concern—without adopting those feelings as their own. That approach could preserve empathic connection while reducing personal stress.

The findings also apply beyond clinical settings. Teachers, parents, customer service representatives and anyone working in the service economy may benefit from learning to separate recognition of another’s emotion from internalizing that emotion. For example, instead of asking a child “How would you feel if that happened to you?” caregivers might encourage the child to consider “How do you think that person is feeling?”—a subtle shift from imagine‑self to imagine‑other perspective‑taking.

Source: University at Buffalo
Image source: Image adapted from the University at Buffalo news release.
Original research: Study to appear in the Journal of Experimental Psychology.

University at Buffalo. “Walking a Mile in Someone Else’s Shoes May Be Hazardous to Your Health.” Neuroscience News. Study published in Journal of Experimental Psychology.

Readers are encouraged to share this summary to increase awareness of how different forms of empathy affect both interpersonal connection and personal resilience.