Empathy Can Lead To Poor Decisions
However, Paul Bloom, professor of cognitive science and psychology at Yale University and author of Against Empathy, offers a counter argument on how empathy can distort our judgment. In his study, two groups of people were tasked to listen to the recording of a terminally ill boy describing his pain.
One group was asked to identify with and feel for the boy, while the other group was instructed to listen objectively and not engage emotionally. After listening to the recording, each person was asked whether they would move the boy up a prioritized treatment list constructed and managed by medical doctors.
In the emotional group, three-quarters of participants decided to move him up the list against the opinion of medical professionals and potentially putting other individuals at risk. In the objective group, only one-third of the participants made the same recommendation.
From this, you can see how empathy could push you to risk others for the benefit of one – and that could put your business objectives at risk.
Empathy Can Hinder Diversity
Many studies have shown that we favour people who are similar to us. In fact, hiring managers tend to recruit those who have the potential to be friends – which could prevent your business to have the people you need, and more of the people you want.