Both sympathy and empathy are scripts

Lots of good stuff in the previous thread. We're all trying to explain experiences and attitudes that have tremendous meaning for us, that in many cases are the defining themes of our personalities. In the next day or so I will try to find and post an electronic version of a paper on scripts and script theory I wrote for the SSTI Bulletin. Sympathy (both Jim's definition and mine) is a script, just as is altruism. It is the peculiar combination of learned and innate mechanisms that makes our field so complex and fascinating. Script theory allows some understanding of it and shows why some parts of the personality are easy to change and some are quite refractory.

• Looking Forward to Don's Script Theory Paper by c.h., 3/23/97
• Paper Has Been Delivered Here by Gil Levin, 3/24/97
• Crime and Nourishment by Rich Kuyper, 3/27/97
  • Rich...Inspiring...On the Path with Heart by c.h., 3/27/97
  • Crime and Remorse by Ed Riemann, 3/30/97
    • Crime and Therapy by Rich Kuyper, 4/4/97
      • Crime and Injury by Ed Riemann, 4/5/97
      • Shame, in the prison settings by Mell Williams, Jr., 8/9/97
      • (No title) by (No author), 6/12/98
  • Rich, Passing Along a Book Reference I Discovered by Jim Duffy, 4/5/97
    • Jim, Thanks for Reference! by Rich Kuyper, 4/7/97
• Both sympathy and empathy are scripts by Margaret, 3/29/97
  • Quick, Write that down! by Vick Kelly, 3/29/97
    • Write this down! by Margaret, 3/29/97