The Crossover of Positive and Negative Emotions: The Role of State Empathy

Tel Aviv UniversityOur aims were (a) to provide empirical support for the crossover process andcompare positive and negative crossover intensity, and (b) to establish therole of state empathy in the crossover process. Participants were 62 armytrainees participating in a training course in the Israeli Defense Forces(IDF). We manipulated crossover by presenting a distressed or a happytarget person creating negative (distressed target person) and positive(happy target person) conditions. Participants’ affect was assessed usingself-report questionnaires and cognitive tasks. Results support the operationof positive and negative crossover from a target person to the trainees.Findings indicate a relative dominance of positive over negative crossover.The hypothesis that emotions cross over as a result of empathy was partiallysupported. We found that the condition (positive-happy or negative-distressed target person) had a stronger impact among respondents charac-terized by high state empathy only for positive emotions.