Personality and socialization correlates of vicarious emotional responding.

The relations of personality and family characteristics to adults' negative vicarious emotional responses to sympathy and distress fi lms were examined.Ss reported more sympathy and less personal distress and exhibited less skin conductance as well as heart rate deceleration when viewing a sympathy-evoking fi lm.Dispositional emotional intensity and fantasy empathy were associated with greater self-reported emotional responding and higher skin conductance.Dispositional perspective taking and personal distress were positively and negatively correlated, respectively, with reported vicarious responding to the sympathy fi lm when Ss were administered instructions to imagine the emotions of those in the fi lms.Family cohesiveness was associated with reported sympathy and sadness in reaction to the sympathy fi lm, whereas the expression of subordinate and positive emotional states in the home of origin was associated with women's reported responsivity.