A recent University of Michigan study is a call to action for those seeking the latter. Researchers found that college students today are about 40 percent lower in empathy than their counterparts from the 1980s and 1990s. Present-day students are less interested in the perspectives of friends and are less concerned for the unfortunate. Empathy is the ability to recognize, appreciate and respond to the feelings of other people. It is a fundamental building block of a healthy society. Empathy helps us understand our differences and our common ground. It enables us to go beyond the superficial to identify shared interests and accomplish collective goals. In an increasingly heterogeneous society, empathy is essential for cooperation and social cohesion and the pursuit of our nation's highest ideals, including fairness, justice and equality.
The Michigan study joins a growing body of research that has found Americans growing more individualistic and isolated. Other studies have documented intensifying narcissism among college students since the late 1980s. Our society is becoming more disconnected and lonely, Jacqueline Olds and Richard S. Schwartz, Harvard psychiatrists concluded in their book "The Lonely American."
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