Reinterpretation of the Dimensions of the McBane Empathy Scale (1995) through Neuroscience

Abstract

Empathy has been measured in several fields, such as psychology, marketing and sales force, which is why several scales have been developed. The contradictory effects of empathy on sales performance are partly attributed to the conceptualisation of empathy as a onedimensional, bi-dimensional or multi-dimensional construct. This research aims to contribute to this debate by drawing on a review of the cognitive neuroscience literature and the contributions of the biomarketing paradigm to explain the neurochemical and neuroanatomical processes of empathy. we will focus our attention on the study of the scale of empathy proposed by McBane (1995). This neurological corroboration leads us to consider that empathy is composed of both the affective and cognitive dimensions and that emotional contagion is not a third dimension of empathy, but constitutes the phylogenetic basis of affective empathy. These neurochemical and neuroanatomical corroborations fundamentally reconfirm the number of dimensions proposed by McBane (1995) and constitute a solid theoretical groundwork that paves the way for future empirical research.