Empathy in Chinese Culture: The Role of Differential Mode of Association

Empathy is a fundamental concept in psychotherapy. As a robust predictor of client outcomes (Elliott et al., 2018), its importance is self-evident. Most therapists are able to recognize the significance of empathy when they first begin their training, and additionally spend a significant amount of time learning how to practice empathy. However, both trainees and trainers find that effectively demonstrating empathy is not an easy task. From the authors’ experiences, providing an empathic response instead of another type of reaction is already a challenge for the trainees in many cases.

Empathy encompasses understanding, feeling, and sharing another person’s inner world, as well as self-other distinction (Eklund & Meranius, 2021). The cognitive and affective components of empathy, which refer to inferring others’ feelings/perspectives and vicariously experiencing others’ emotions, have been extensively studied. Specifically, affective empathy encompasses two distinct emotional states: empathic concerns and personal distress. In recent years, the overt expressions and internal driving factors of empathy, seen as the behavioral and motivational components respectively, have received increased attention (Weisz & Zaki, 2018; Zaki, 2020). The behavioral component is particularly crucial for understanding empathy in psychotherapy. As Rogers (1957) noted, the therapist’s empathy needs to be successfully conveyed to the client, at least to some extent. Moreover, the behavioral component is more culturally sensitive, as individuals from different cultural backgrounds may express empathy in vastly different ways.

Cross-cultural research on empathy primarily focuses on its variations due to individualism and collectivism. Individualist cultures prioritize independence and self-actualization, while collectivist cultures emphasize group harmony and interdependence (Markus & Kitayama, 1991). Collectivist cultures tend to exhibit higher levels of empathy overall (Chopik et al., 2017), but this effect is moderated by the target of empathy. Collectivists demonstrate more empathy towards in-group members but less empathy towards strangers than individualists. Additionally, individuals from collectivist cultures may rely more on cognitive empathy and exhibit lower levels of affective empathy than those from individualist cultures (Atkins, 2014). Cross-cultural research on affective empathy also suggests that East Asian adolescents and children report higher level of personal distress and lower levels of empathic concern than their Western counterparts (Cassels et al., 2010). These findings highlight the significant role of culture on empathy. However, the dichotomy between collectivism and individualism is overly simplistic and fails to capture the full range of cultural diversity. Specific cultures may exert unique influences on empathy.

The “chaxu geju” (差序格局, differential mode of association) is a native sociological concept proposed by Fei (1947, 1998) to explain the basic characteristics of traditional Chinese social structure. Rooted in Confucianism, this concept depicts Chinese interpersonal relationships as a self-centered network that radiates outward from close to distant ties. Subsequent research has expanded this concept into a multidimensional framework, incorporating both the horizontal dimension of “qin-shu” (亲疏, intimacy and distance) and the vertical dimension of “zun-bei” (尊卑, hierarchy and status; Yan, 2006; Zhai, 2009). Huang (1995, 2002) further analyzed the intrinsic structure of Confucianism and argued that in social interactions, individuals assess relational roles based on two socio-cognitive dimensions of intimacy and hierarchy. Therefore, Chinese interpersonal relationships are characterized by the differential mode of association, which includes both intimacy-distance and hierarchy-status dimensions. Given this framework, empathy in interpersonal relationships is inevitably influenced by the differential mode of association.

Impact of Intimacy-Distance on Empathy

In collectivist cultures, individuals typically adopt an interdependent self-construal (Markus & Kitayama, 1991) and the boundaries of the individual self are also more blurred. According to the closeness of relationships, Chinese people incorporate others into their self-concept to varying degrees (Han et al., 2016; Zhu & Zhang, 2002). This suggests that the degree of self-other merging may be higher in Chinese culture, especially in intimate relationships. However, empathy requires a certain degree of self-other distinction since an excessively high level of self-other merging may lead to confusion of perspectives and excessive personal involvement. Therefore, we hypothesize that in the context of Chinese culture, overly fused interpersonal boundaries, especially in intimate relationships, may hinder empathy.

In one of our studies, participants were instructed to respond to statements of personal distress and it was found that in such simulated helping situations, individuals were more likely to choose advice or comfort rather than empathic responses (Gao, 2021; Ma, 2020). Further analysis revealed that individuals with low self-differentiation and high self-other merging exhibited stronger affective empathy, whereas those with higher self-differentiation and lower self-other merging tendencies performed better in cognitive and behavioral empathy (Ma, 2020). Taking the level of intimacy in the relationship into account, the results showed that when compared to the stranger group, participants were less likely to show empathic responses to the intimate group, but more likely to offer advice. The lower the degree of self-other distinction, the more intense the personal distress and the less likely the participant was to exhibit an empathic response (Xia, 2022). We also combined the Multinomial Processing Tree (MPT) model with the Implicit Association Test (IAT) to calculate the intensity of spontaneously elicited empathic and distressing experiences when confronting different relational targets (Yang, 2023). The results revealed that when individuals empathize with close others characterized by a high degree of self-other merging, this process automatically evokes stronger personal distress. In contrast, when empathic targets were acquaintances with a moderate level of self-other merging, the most intense and spontaneous empathic experiences are elicited. This indicates that empathy requires an appropriate interpersonal distance and excessive fusion is detrimental to empathy.

In daily life, Chinese people often prioritize giving advice over verbally expressing understanding of others’ emotions. On one hand, providing advice is a behavior with a lower sense of boundaries, as individuals in intimate relationships tend to take greater responsibility for each other’s situation (Yu & Chaudhry, 2024). On the other hand, offering advice can function as a rational strategy that allows people to avoid emotional involvement. Research on directives in psychotherapy has shown that Chinese clients generally expect therapists to provide directives and tend to perceive some non-directive interventions as being directive (Duan et al., 2020). Therapists typically believe that directives can be beneficial to Chinese clients (Duan et al., 2015) and they appear to enhance treatment outcomes by strengthening the working alliance (Duan et al., 2012).

Impact of Hierarchy-Status on Empathy

Social hierarchies are typically based on status and power, established according to explicit or implicit social dimensions such as knowledge and skills (Fiske et al., 2016). Hierarchical social structures typically attenuate the empathic process in interpersonal contexts (Cheon et al., 2011). Research has found that social dominance orientation, which refers to people’s preference for social hierarchies over egalitarianism as guiding principles for social structure, and high power distance are associated with lower levels of empathic concern and altruistic behavior (Chiao et al., 2009; Pratto et al., 1994). In hierarchical structures, compared to individuals of higher social status, people are more inclined to empathize with those of lower status (Feng et al., 2016; Lucas & Kteily, 2018). This may be related to social norms and group expectations. In cultures with high power distance, individuals are more likely to maintain social harmony by helping disadvantaged groups and the underlying empathic neural mechanisms also tend to favor empathizing with lower-status individuals (Feng et al., 2016). Additionally, empathizing with individuals of high social status may trigger upward social comparisons threatening a positive self-concept, whereas empathizing downward may induce a sense of superiority (Takahashi et al., 2009).

The Confucian concept of “zun-bei” encompasses a richer and more culturally embedded significance than the notion of social stratification in Western cultures. It emphasizes ethical norms within specific relational roles and duties. Li (礼, ritual propriety), the core of Confucianism, prescribes behavioral codes for each individual’s social role, emphasizing hierarchical order. The Confucian ethical principles permeate all aspects of social life. Visible cues such as age and social status constantly signal one’s position within relationships, requiring one’s behaviors and even emotions to align with Li. However, research has found that empathy involves a degree of self-other merging. It can be speculated that this merging might blur the distinctions of hierarchy and conflict with corresponding behavioral norms (Cialdini et al., 1997). Therefore, we hypothesize that hierarchy-status may inhibit empathy, while egalitarian relationships will promote empathy.

We investigated the impact of hierarchy-status on empathy in real social relationships across school, workplace, and family contexts in China (Yin, 2024). The findings demonstrated that participants exhibited the highest levels of empathy towards individuals in egalitarian relationships (e.g., classmates, colleagues), compared to hierarchical relationships (e.g., teachers/juniors or supervisors/subordinates). Furthermore, after training to express empathy, participants reported an increased level of self-other merging with the empathic target and a reduction in the psychosocial hierarchical distance.

Implications for Clinical Practice

The differential mode of association provides a framework that allows us to better understand the influence of Chinese culture on empathy. In Chinese culture, interpersonal relationships tend to be more fused, but self-other merging relationships that are excessive in nature are detrimental to empathy. The therapeutic relationship lies between intimate relationship and stranger relationship, with the therapist and the client being the most familiar strangers to each other. Compared to intimate relationships in daily life, the therapeutic relationship is more conducive to the occurrence of empathy. Therapists who overly identify with the client or become too personally involved in therapy should remind themselves to maintain appropriate boundaries, as this self-other distinction is essential to empathy.

Chinese culture is inherently hierarchical, where the concepts of hierarchy-status are associated with a corresponding set of interpersonal interaction norms. This hierarchical culture naturally affects the therapeutic relationship, where the therapist is typically perceived as being in a position of authority and superiority over the client. Our research findings indicate that hierarchical relationships tend to inhibit empathy, while egalitarian relationships promote it. These findings suggest that if the therapist seems to be more authoritative in the therapeutic relationship, it may be more difficult to express empathy. In contrast, fostering an egalitarian relationship with the client is conducive to empathy. Interestingly, our study also indicates that once therapists attempt to express empathy, the therapeutic relationship would become more egalitarian.