Hot-cold empathy gap: what is it and how does this bias affect us?

What is the cold-warm empathy gap and how does it influence our behavior?

Do you know what the cold-warm empathy gap is? It is a cognitive bias through which we underestimate the influence of visceral (emotional) impulses on our own behaviors, preferences and attitudes. This bias was coined by George Loewenstein, a psychologist at Carnegie Mellon University.

In this article we tell you what this bias consists of, what types of it exist and how it can influence our decision making.

Cold-hot empathy gap

The cold-warm empathy gap bias has to do with how we feel.Thus, our understanding of things depends on the state in which we are immersed. That is to say, if we are angry, it is difficult for us to imagine being calm, but also if we are in love; in this case, it is difficult for us to imagine not being in love in the future.

In other words, what we feel determines our understanding of things, and makes it difficult for us to see them differently at that precise moment.

Along these lines, the hot-cold empathy gap translates into an inability to foresee how we will behave in the future. inability to foresee how we will behave in a given emotional (or even passionate) state, even if we have already experienced it before.. This bias can lead us to make mistakes, or to make decisions that we later regret.

Bias directions

On the other hand, the cold-hot empathy gap can take two directions. Let's analyze each of them:

1. from hot to cold

People are said to be in a "hot state" when they are influenced by an emotional state (i.e., when visceral factors come into play).

Under this state, they have difficulty fully understanding the extent to which their behavior is being driven by what they are feeling.. Instead, they think that what they actually do in the short term is determined by what they want in the long term.

2. From cold to hot

In the opposite state, from cold to hot, people place themselves in a "cold state". But what does this mean? That they show difficulties to imagine themselves in "hot states" (emotional).

Thus, in the opposite way to what happens in the previous case, they underestimate the power of their visceral impulses in their behavior or decision-making.What are the consequences? A lack of preparation when emotional impulses arise.

Types

The cold-hot empathy gap, moreover, can be classified according to two parameters: its "location" in time (past or future) and according to whether intrapersonal or interpersonal events are involved.

1. Intrapersonal prospective

In this case, we are talking about the difficulties that people have in predicting their own future behavior when they are in an emotional stateWhen we find ourselves in a different emotional state than the one that would correspond to the future.

That is to say, and with a simple example; if we are very sad now, it is difficult for us to imagine being very happy in the future.

2. Intrapersonal retrospective

In this second type, retrospective, the temporal location is located in the past. difficulties we manifest in remembering (or understanding) certain behaviors we had in the past, in a state different from the present one.in a state different from the present one.

That is, if such behaviors occurred in a different emotional state than now, we may have difficulty remembering or even understanding them.

3. Interpersonal

Finally, the third case of cold-hot empathy gap, according to the interpersonal parameter, would be the following: the attempts we make to evaluate both the behaviors and preferences of others, in a state different from our own. Well, according to this bias, we would have difficulty evaluating them.

Visceral factors

We have talked about visceral factors (or visceral drives) to explain the hot-cold empathy gap. But what exactly are these factors?

The word visceral comes from viscera, from the Latin "viscera," meaning "entrails." It also denotes other meanings, such as "maternal womb" (uterus), "innermost heart" or "instincts". Visceral also means intense and irrational, and is often related to primitive emotional states.

Thus, visceral factors include different states, for example: sexual arousal, thirst, hunger, pain, strong emotions... When we make decisions, visceral factors influence us much more than we think. (that is why it is often better to stop, calm down and wait for that state to "pass", to decide in a more serene way and more in accordance with what we really want).

When we are immersed in a visceral state, we speak of being in a state of heat (as we have already mentioned); it is under this type of state that our mind will tend to ignore many of the stimuli necessary to decide in a sensible way.

We should keep in mind that heat states are also related to hasty decision making, impulsivity and the possibility of losing control.

How to cope with the hot-cold empathy gap?

By anticipating it, or rather, the hot or cold state in which we will find ourselves. The fact of anticipating it will allow us to foresee how we could behave in such a situationand even take measures before plunging into such a state.

Sexuality in young people

We find it interesting to answer this question because this bias is of great importance in issues such as sexuality (especially among adolescents and young people). (especially among adolescents and young people).

Isn't it true that the fact of being about to perform a sexual act immerses us in a state of passion? And that many young people, in this state, "let themselves go" and do not use a condom? Therefore, the solution is to always carry it on hand, and to think that we should use it before reaching this visceral state.

In a cold state (away from the sexual moment) we may think that we will act in a certain way in the hot state (at the moment of the sexual act), but it is difficult to foresee, and that is precisely what the hot-cold empathy gap talks about.

The bottom line; we will never act the same from a cold state as we do from a hot stateand what we may think we will do in each of these states will always be far from reality.

Final reflection

In short, what the cold-hot empathy gap denotes, as its name indicates, is a lack of empathy in certain situations. Thus, what this bias says is that in a "cold" state, we will not predict too effectively how we would react in a "hot" situation, and vice versa. In this sense, it will be difficult for us to be correct.

Surely most of us have experienced this bias at some time, because, let's not fool ourselves; it is not the same to hypothesize about something we feel in the present moment, than to hypothesize what we would do in a different state than the present (for example, what would you do if you were pregnant when you were very young? Would you abort? Who knows...this bias may be influencing you).

Bibliographic references:

• Ariely, D. (2017). The traps of desire. Mexico: Booket
• Loewenstein, George (2005). "Cold-hot empathy gaps and medical decision making" (PDF) . Health Psychology . 24(4, Suppl.): S49 - S56.
• Cortada de Kohan, N. & Macbeth, G.(2006). Cognitive biases in decision making. Catholic University of Argentina. Faculty of Psychology and Education. Department of Psychology, 2(3).
• Nordgren, Loran F .; Banas, Kasia; MacDonald, Geoff (2011). "Empathy gaps for social pain: why people underestimate the Pain of social suffering." Journal of Personality and Social Psychology . 100 (1): 120-128.
• Van Boven, sheet; Loewenstein, George; Dunning, David; Nordgren, Loran F. (2013). "Changing places: a double-judgment model of empathy gaps in emotional perspective taking" (PDF) . In Zanna, Mark P .; Olson, James M. (eds.). Advances in experimental social psychology . 48 . Academic Press pp. 117-171.