Empathy ‘is influenced by genetic factors’

People's capacity for empathy can vary depending on their genetic makeup, according to new research.

The study from the University of Cambridge, the Institut Pasteur, Paris Diderot University, the CNRS and the genetics company 23andMe analysed information from more than 46,000 people, making it the largest genetic study of empathy to date.

It was found that at least one-tenth of the variations in empathy levels between different people could be explained by genetic factors, with variants associated with lower empathy also linked to a higher risk for autism.

The study also confirmed that women were more empathetic than men on average, but this variation was not shown to be a result of DNA, implying that this empathy gap between the sexes is caused by social factors or non-genetic biological influences, such as prenatal hormone exposure.

Professor Simon Baron-Cohen at the University of Cambridge said: "Finding that even a fraction of why we differ in empathy is due to genetic factors helps us understand people, such as those with autism, who struggle to imagine another person's thoughts and feelings. "

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