Empathy, an important but problematic concept

The concept of empathy as it is used in scholarly discourse has been challenged for over 50 years, yet the same ambiguities and controversies associated with the concept persist and, indeed, have accelerated with the accumulation of definitions, subconstructs that are included under the empathy umbrella, and measuring instruments. In this article we address the following interrelated problems: many definitions, authors not offering definitions, authors using instruments that do not match their definitions, authors not specifying definitions and measurements in cited studies, the jingle-jangle problem, and the persistent need for more construct validity research. In this Special Issue on empathy and its problems, authors bring new theoretical insights, creative research designs, and a critical focus on the empathy concept itself.