Empathy is we feel with others. It sits in the Emotion dimension (EMO) of the Human Behavior Taxonomy™ as element HBT-EMO-0010, within the Level 3 family. The core principle: we feel with others. In incentive terms, it matters because it changes the payoff people perceive before they choose — which means it can be designed for, or exploited.
Scientific Definition
We feel with others
Plain-English Definition
We feel with others
Feynman Explanation
We feel with others
Core Principle
We feel with others
Mechanisms
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Inputs (Triggers)
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Outputs (Behaviors)
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Behavioral Signature
We feel with others
Examples
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Original analysis from The Incentives Lab — how this element behaves inside real payoff structures.
Why this element matters to incentive design
Executives usually notice this element only after it has cost something. By then it looks like a one-off. It is not. The mechanism underneath it operates in the Emotion dimension — how do we feel?. You can recognize it in the field by its signature: we feel with others. Every element in the Emotion dimension changes the perceived payoff of an action before the action happens, which is exactly where incentive design has leverage.
How it gets exploited
Left undesigned, this element is exploited the ordinary way: someone discovers that triggering it is cheaper than earning the outcome it stands in for. The pattern is the same one Goodhart's Law describes: the measurable proxy attracts the effort, and the purpose behind it quietly loses funding.
How the Lab designs around it
The redesign move is to make the desired behavior observable, remove whatever currently pays for its opposite, and attach the reward to the behavior rather than to the noisy outcome downstream of it. Design against it the way you would design against a known failure mode — assume it will appear, and price the exploit before someone finds it.
Famous Experiments
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Design Principles
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Measurement Approaches
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Evidence
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The Perverse Incentive Lens™
How this behavior is exploited — and how to redesign around it.
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Interactive Mini Network
Click any neighbor to re-center the graph and follow the threads of connection.
Knowledge Graph Neighbors
Auto-linked to the rest of the Human Behavior Taxonomy by family, domain, dimension, and shared keywords.
Shared feelings become norms
Hope, awe, dread
Desire for more than enough
Anger, outrage, compassion
Seeks connection and safety
We notice things selectively
Systems that shape our future
Complex adaptive systems
Unites millions around ideas
Humanity learns together
Drives innovation and differentiation
Patterns between two people
Where Empathy is cited in the corpus
Essays, field guides, and diagnostics from The Incentives Lab that apply this element.
- EssayWe Change to Avoid Pain
The affective engine behind most organizational change.
- ReferenceThe Lab's philosophy
Filter, anchor, condition safety.
- CourseIncentives 101
The free ten-part primer on reading a payoff structure.
- ReferenceThe Periodic Table of Human Behavior
The full 1,267-element map this page belongs to.
Questions about Empathy
- What is Empathy?
- Empathy is we feel with others. It sits in the Emotion dimension (EMO) of the Human Behavior Taxonomy™ as element HBT-EMO-0010, within the Level 3 family. The core principle: we feel with others. In incentive terms, it matters because it changes the payoff people perceive before they choose — which means it can be designed for, or exploited.
- How is Empathy exploited?
- It is exploited when triggering the behavior becomes cheaper than producing the outcome the behavior is supposed to signal — the standard perverse-incentive path.
- How do you design around Empathy?
- Name the behavior you want in observable terms, remove what currently pays for the opposite, attach the reward to the behavior rather than a lagging proxy, and publish how you will detect gaming.
- Which behavioral dimension does Empathy belong to?
- Empathy is classified in the Emotion dimension (EMO) of the Human Behavior Taxonomy™, family "Level 3", class "Behavioral Force". Its permanent identifier is HBT-EMO-0010 and its evidence grade is B.