Empathy, Anxiety, and Aggression among Moscow Students

Abstract

Research on empathy, altruism, and cooperation is one of the highest priorities in the fields of social anthropology, psychology, and evolutionary sciences around the world. The goal of this article is to assess the level of empathy of Russian students towards people with disabilities. For this purpose, we measured respondents’ levels of anxiety and aggression, assessed the correlation of these characteristics with empathy, determined the degree of their change under the influence of stress (sensitivity to stress). Also, we used the 2D:4D ratio as a biomarker of prenatal androgenization. The outcome of this study shows that human behavior is determined by a complex of interrelated social (cultural) and biological factors. Femininity (as a reflection of prenatal oestrogenization of the brain) is a predictor of higher levels of empathy and cooperation and more pronounced reactions to stressful stimuli, regardless of environmental factors.