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Published on: September 4, 2019
The Role of Cultural Capital in Self-Reported Alexithymia and Empathy
Giulia Gaggero1,2, Giulia Balboni3, Gianluca Esposito1
1University of Trento (Italy)
Background:
Sociocultural factors play an essential role in the way we process and express emotions. In this study, we asked whether Cultural Capital (CC)-the set of knowledge, cultural codes, and skills embodied by people-explains individual differences in two constructs measuring the capacity to understand our own emotions (alexithymia) or others' emotions (empathy).
Method:
A pre-registered survey was conducted with an Italian sample (N = 475). Alexithymia and empathy were assessed respectively via the Toronto Alexithymia Scale and the Interpersonal Reactivity Index.
Results:
Regression analyses confirmed a significant, although limited, role of CC in predicting alexithymia and empathy. People with higher CC showed lower Externally Oriented Thinking, higher Perspective Taking, and higher Fantasy. Self-reported alexithymia and empathy were also impacted by scores on a social desirability scale.
Conclusions:
These results suggest that i) Cultural Capital influences the ability to analyse one's own feelings and understand others' perspectives, and ii) social desirability threatens the validity of self-report measures of emotional abilities. Overall, this research underlines the importance of studying affective processes by considering an individual's cultural context.
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