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Empathy as a Cultural Process: A Critical Analysis of the Phenomenon of Empathy Through Socio-Cultural Psychology

Aleksandar Milovanović

Published 2025 in Culture & Psychology

ABSTRACT

This paper critically examines the phenomenon of empathy by contrasting mainstream and socio-cultural psychological perspectives. While mainstream psychology conceptualizes empathy as a stable, measurable cognitive-affective trait, while cross-cultural psychology often overlooks cultural, linguistic, and historical specificities. Drawing on Vygotsky’s notion of higher mental functions, as well as the works of Jan Valsiner and Barbara Rogoff, the paper argues that empathy should be studied as a culturally mediated and developmentally emergent process shaped by symbolic interaction, internalization, and participation in communal practices. Through critical review of literature, the paper reveals key epistemological and methodological limitations of mainstream approaches – particularly their universalist assumptions and reliance on decontextualized measurement tools while illuminating socio-cultural perspective that, in contrast, foregrounds the dynamic, situated nature of empathy, embedded in cultural narratives, value systems, and power relations. The paper concludes by proposing a research agenda grounded in qualitative, context-sensitive methodologies and outlines implications for pedagogy, social justice, and democratic life. Specifically, it argues that empathy should be cultivated as a communicative and moral phenomenon, essential for fostering emotional literacy, collective responsibility, and intercultural understanding in educational and civic contexts.

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