Empathy Accelerates Subjective Time Perception, Independent of Physiology but Not of Visual Attention

Abstract

Recent work suggests that empathic engagement can influence cognitive and perceptual processes, yet its impact on time perception remains unclear. Whereas internal clock models would predict that empathy-induced physiological arousal lengthen perceived duration, other frameworks offer opposite predictions. Specifically, findings that empathy reduces perceived distance, combined with construal level, and motivational dimensional theory, together predict that empathy accelerate the subjective passage of time. Moreover, although eye-movements are crucial in empathy, it remains unclear how visual attention modulates time perception during empathic experiences. Thus, we employed an empathy-for-pain and duration estimation task, while measuring participants heart rate, skin conductance, and eye-movements, to investigate how empathy and physiological arousal influence time perception. Our findings show that empathy leads to a faster perceived passage of time. Despite increases in physiological arousal during empathy, arousal was not associated with changes in time perception. Instead, greater visual attention to the eyes predicted stronger temporal contraction. Furthermore, trait empathy and autism quotient were related to this effect, whereas alexithymia was not. These results provide the first empirical evidence that empathy alters time perception, elucidate the contribution of physiological and visual mechanisms to this phenomenon and extend current theories of time perception and empathy.