Empathy-which typically instigates prosocial behavior-comprises both cognitive and affective facets. Research suggests that the cognitive facet of empathy (empathic accuracy) declines with age, whereas the affective facets of empathy (emotional congruence and sympathy) remain stable or increase with age. Going beyond main effects of age, we tested whether working in occupations with varying emotional job demands (EJDs) moderates the effects of age on empathy. We predicted that emotionally demanding occupations provide opportunities to practice empathy and, as a result, may lessen the negative relationship between age and empathic accuracy and/or strengthen the (positive) relationship between age and the affective facets of empathy. A sample of 128 employees (19-65 years) who differed in self-reported EJDs was recruited. Participants viewed film clips portraying different persons retelling a work event during which they experienced positive or negative emotions. After each clip, participants rated the intensity of the protagonist's and their own emotions. Consistent with prior research, our analyses revealed a negative association between age and empathic accuracy, while there were no age differences in emotional congruence and a positive association between age and sympathy. Only the relationship between age and emotional congruence was moderated by EJDs. Contrary to our prediction, relatively older employees in emotionally demanding jobs experienced lower emotional congruence than younger employees. This may suggest that people learn about the double-edged nature of sharing other's feelings as they progress in their career, and thus, keep a healthy distance. Implications for age-comparative research on prosocial processes across adulthood are discussed. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved).

中文翻译：

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工作中的同理心：年龄和情感工作需求的作用。

移情通常会促进亲社会行为，包括认知和情感两个方面。研究表明，同理的认知方面（同理的准确性）随着年龄的增长而下降，而同情的情感方面（同情和同情）则随着年龄的增长而保持稳定或增加。除了年龄的主要影响之外，我们测试了在具有不同情感工作需求（EJD）的职业中工作是否能缓解年龄对同理心的影响。我们预计，对情感有要求的职业将提供实践同情的机会，因此，可以减轻年龄与同理准确性之间的负相关关系，并且/或者可以增强年龄与同情的情感方面之间的（正）关系。招募了128名自我报告的EJD不同的员工（19-65岁）。参与者观看了剪辑的影片，描绘了不同的人在讲述工作活动时经历了积极或消极的情绪。在每个剪辑之后，参与者对主角的强度和他们自己的情绪进行了评估。与先前的研究一致，我们的分析显示，年龄与同理准确度之间呈负相关，而在情感一致性上没有年龄差异，而年龄与同情之间存在正相关。EJD仅调节了年龄和情绪一致性之间的关系。与我们的预测相反，从事高要求工作的相对年长的雇员在情感上的一致性低于年轻雇员。这可能表明人们在职业发展过程中了解了分享别人的感受的双重边缘本质，因此，保持健康的距离。讨论了成年后亲社会过程的年龄比较研究的意义。（PsycInfo数据库记录（c）2021 APA，保留所有权利）。