Educating in empathy

Even though it has been shown that empathetic people are happier and more fulfilled, empathy doesn’t seem to be a central concern in education. Just look at the increase in bullying at school and online, to mention just two consequences of lack of empathy. Shouldn’t we be educating our children in empathy? The more empathy you have, the less you will use violence as a conflict resolution method. The areas in the brain that are activated by each of these attitudes overlap, meaning that one attitude can inhibit the other. Education in empathy is the path to a cooperative and

altruistic society. It is education in respect, solidarity and freethought.

Luis Moya Albiol is an associate professor and head of department of Psychobiology at the University of Valencia. He gained his PhD at the same university, for which he received an Outstanding Award. He teaches Psychology and Criminology and is the director of the first Master's degree in Neurocriminology. Under his leadership a team of scholars is investigating social neuroscience, based as much on the study of social stress and violence as on cooperation, neurological happiness and empathy. He has published more than one hundred articles in scientific magazines, supervised a range of investigatory projects and doctoral theses, and is the author of the university textbook “Neurocriminología” ( Pirámide, 2015), the book of popular science “Empathy” and coauthor of “Listen to your Brain”, both published by Plataforma Editorial. He lectures in universities, associations, businesses and business schools such as ESADE. He is also notable for his contribution to popular science on television and on the radio, in specialist magazines and in the press. Empathy is a key concept in business literature, even though no book has previously given it such an indepth treatment.

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