Because we confuse sympathy for the problems of our friends with their own

Perhaps one of the most human features is the ability for empathy - in other words, we can quite easily put yourself in the other person. According to a new study, the human brain is capable of not only sympathy, and sometimes complete identification - sometimes people can not distinguish between the issue of a close friend or family member on their own.



Usually we sympathize emotionally close to us humans, but rarely able to empathize as much as strangers. University of Virginia psychology professor James Cohen said that as soon as we get to know the people they are to some extent become a part of us, as human self-identity is largely based on those whom we know and who are able to empathize.

Cohen scanned the brains of 22 young people with the help of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). During the scan, some people felt the threat: their own or in the immediate vicinity of these people as friends and strangers, at any moment could hit a slight discharge current. In the event of a threat to the stranger relevant brain regions participants in the experiment showed low activity, and in case of threat to a person familiar activity virtually coincided with a threat to the subjects themselves.

Dr. Cohen believes that the more time people spend together, the more alike they become. Thus, a person automatically identifies himself with his friend and takes him for his own problems. It is likely that a similar phenomenon - part of the process of evolution.

via factroom.ru