The social consequences of empathic and counter-empathic emotions: contextual influences on social perception and evaluation

Feng, R. (2026)

Doctoral Thesis

In this dissertation, I investigate the social impact of expressing empathic and counter-empathic emotions, specifically how these emotions are evaluated and how individuals who express them are perceived and expected to behave. In addition, I examine potential factors that may shape these perceptions and evaluations, including event valence (whether the situation involves positive or negative outcomes), event magnitude (whether the situation is major or minor), and gender (of the expresser, the target, or the observer of the expressed emotions). By examining these dimensions, I aim to uncover the nuanced ways in which empathic and counter-empathic emotions function as powerful social signals, offering insights into their broader implications for interpersonal judgments, behaviors, and relationships.

• Empathic emotions
• Counter-empathic emotions
• Happy-for-ness
• Sympathy
• Glückschmerz
• Schadenfreude
• Social perceptions
• Impression formation
• Attractiveness perception

• All authors: Feng, R.
• Supervisor: Dijk, W.W. van; Dijk, E. van
• Committee: Barendregt, B.A.; Dillen, L.F. van; Fischer, A.H.; Kleef, G.A. van; Lelieveld, G.; Noordewier, M.K.
• Qualification: Doctor (dr.)
• Awarding Institution: Institute of Psychology, Faculty of Social and Behavioural Sciences, Leiden University
• Date: 2026-05-26
• Title of host publication: Dissertatiereeks Kurt Lewin Instituut
• Name: 2026-05