Empathy is the ability to feel and understand what other people are experiencing. Low levels of empathy are seen in some mental disorders. Little is known about the role of empathy in gambling disorder (GD). The authors of this review searched for empirical articles that examined the relationship between empathy and gambling. They identified 11 articles, 10 of which looked at gambling behaviours and one that looked at GD. Most studies asked participants to watch or participate in a gambling task while their brain activities were measured. Nine studies found that activities in certain areas of the brain were associated with levels of empathy. One study found that people with GD had higher levels of emotional empathy but lower levels of cognitive empathy than healthy people. More research is required to understand how empathy affects gambling.
