Empathy is generally defined as the extent to which one has the ability to understand and accept another's feelings and emotions. Some view empathy simply as one's ability to "put themselves in another's shoes," or view an issue from another's perspective. However, some researchers suggest that perspective-taking is a cognitive process that precedes empathy, which is an affective or emotionally-based response to perspective-taking.

Empathy has been a subject of interest in a variety of different fields, but has only begun to be examined by those in the management area. Early childhood development researchers have concluded that empathy is a function of cognitive maturity; that is, the ability to take another's point of view requires a certain degree of cognitive complexity. Yet, from a moral development perspective, people are thought to progress from an egocentric form of morality toward a level of moral development where one examines issues from...