A University of Chicago study showed that rats have a very similar type of empathy to humans, for better or for worse.
Even animals, in their own way, know how to be empathic, being able to understand what their fellowmen feel. A new confirmation comes from the University of Chicago which has shown that rats have a type of empathy very similar to that of humans, for better or for worse.
A surprising discovery that provides new insights into the abilities of rodents, already known for their intelligence. The study, titled "The Bystander Effect in Rats," showed that rats help a companion in distress if they are alone but in the presence of other "helper" rats, they are also tempted not to help. It is the so-called spectator effect, well known in social psychology.
Based on this effect, an individual tends not to offer any help to a person in need when other people are also present. In other words, the more people witness someone else's problem, the less likely someone will help. The mechanism behind the classic spectator effect is believed to be a spread of accountability whereby people believe they don't have to act because others will.
So too do rats, according to new research published in Science Advances, which amplifies previous studies on rodent empathy. But one aspect surprised the researchers.
It was John Havlik who tested the spectator effect on rats by discovering that in their case theempathy was contagious. In general, both in rodents and in humans, the group tends to accentuate a behavior, but contrary to what was expected, rats were more likely to help others in need.
"At first, I thought the experiment had failed but after doing more research on human studies, we realized that the behavior was actually being mirrored in people as well," Havlik said. “This seems to go against everything we know about the Bystander effect but, apparently, a study of surveillance footage released just last year found that humans actually helped in over 90% of violent encounters. The fact is, as is often the case in psychology research, we don't fully understand its effect. But whatever the implications, the important thing is that humans are not alone in exhibiting this type of behavior. Rats appear to be just as empathetic, ”explained the study's author.
We do not find it hard to believe it.
Sources of reference: University of Chicago, Science Advances
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