Indifference (emotion)

Apathy is a lack of feeling, emotion, interest, or concern about something. It is a state of indifference, or the suppression of emotions such as concern, excitement, motivation, or passion. An apathetic individual has an absence of interest in or concern about emotional, social, spiritual, philosophical, virtual, or physical life and the world. Apathy can also be defined as a person's lack of goal orientation. Apathy falls in the less extreme spectrum of diminished motivation, with abulia in the middle and akinetic mutism being more extreme than both apathy and abulia.Marin, R. S., & Wilkosz, P. A. (2005)
Disorders of diminished motivation
. Journal of Head Trauma Rehabilitation, 20(4), 377-388.

The apathetic may lack a sense of purpose, worth, or meaning in their life. People with severe apathy tend to have a lower quality of life and are at a higher risk for mortality and early institutionalization. They may also exhibit insensibility or sluggishness. In positive psychology, apathy is described as a result of the individuals' feeling they do not possess the level of skill required to confront a challenge (i.e. "flow"). It may also be a result of perceiving no challenge at all (e.g. the challenge is irrelevant to them, or conversely, they have learned helplessness). Apathy is something that all people face in some capacity and is a natural response to disappointment, dejection, and stress. As a response, apathy is a way to forget about these negative feelings. This type of common apathy is usually felt only in the short term, but sometimes it becomes a long-term or even lifelong state, often leading to deeper social and psychological issues. An extreme form of apathy may be someone being numb to different stressful life events such as losing a job.

Apathy should be distinguished from reduced affect display, which refers to reduced emotional expression but not necessarily reduced emotion.

Pathological apathy, characterized by extreme forms of apathy, is now known to occur in many different brain disorders, including neurodegenerative conditions often associated with dementia such as Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, and psychiatric disorders such as schizophrenia. Although many patients with pathological apathy also have depression, several studies have shown that the two syndromes are dissociable: apathy can occur independently of depression and vice versa.

Etymology

Although the word ''apathy'' was first used in 1594 and is derived from the Greek ('' apatheia''), from (''apathēs'', "without feeling" from ''a-'' ("without, not") and ''pathos'' ("emotion")), it is important not to confuse the two terms. Also meaning "absence of passion," "apathy" or "insensibility" in Greek, the term ''apatheia'' was used by the Stoics to signify a (desirable) state of indifference towards events and things which lie outside one's control (that is, according to their philosophy, all things exterior, one being only responsible for one's own representations and judgments). In contrast to ''apathy'', ''apatheia'' is considered a virtue, especially in Orthodox monasticism. In the Philokalia the word ''dispassion'' is used for ''apatheia'', so as not to confuse it with ''apathy''.

History and other views

Christians have historically condemned apathy as a deficiency of love and devotion to God and his works. This interpretation of apathy is also referred to as Sloth and is listed among the Seven Deadly Sins. Clemens Alexandrinus used the term to draw to Christianity philosophers who aspired after virtue.

The modern concept of apathy became more well known after World War I, when it was one of the various forms of "shell shock". Soldiers who lived in the trenches amidst the bombing and machine gun fire, and who saw the battlefields strewn with dead and maimed comrades, developed a sense of disconnected numbness and indifference to normal social interaction when they returned from combat.

In 1950, US novelist John Dos Passos wrote: "Apathy is one of the characteristic responses of any living organism when it is subjected to stimuli too intense or too complicated to cope with. The cure for apathy is comprehension."

Technology

Apathy is a normal way for humans to cope with stress. Being able to "shrug off" disappointments is considered an important step in moving people forward and driving them to try other activities and achieve new goals. Coping seems to be one of the most important aspects of getting over a tragedy and an apathetic reaction may be expected. With the addition of the handheld device and the screen between people, apathy has also become a common occurrence on the net as users observe others being bullied, slandered, threatened or sent disturbing images. The bystander effect grows to an apathetic level as people lose interest in caring for others who are not in their "circle" and may even participate in their harassment.

Social origin

There may be other factors contributing to a person's apathy.

Apathy has been socially viewed as worse than things such as hate or anger. Not caring whatsoever, in the eyes of some, is even worse than having distaste for something. Author Leo Buscaglia is quoted as saying "I have a very strong feeling that the opposite of love is not hate-it's apathy. It's not giving a damn." Helen Keller stated that apathy is the "worst of them all" when it comes to the various evils in the world. French social commentator and political thinker Charles de Montesquieu stated that "the tyranny of a prince in an oligarchy is not so dangerous to the public welfare as the apathy of a citizen in the democracy." As can be seen by these quotes and various others, the social implications of apathy are great. Many people believe that not caring at all can be worse for society than individuals who are overpowering or hateful.

In the school system

Apathy in students, especially those in high school, is a growing problem. It causes teachers to lower standards in order to try to engage their students. Apathy in schools is most easily recognized by students being unmotivated or, quite commonly, being motivated by outside factors. For example, when asked about their motivation for doing well in school, fifty percent of students cited outside sources such as "college acceptance" or "good grades". On the contrary, only fourteen percent cited "gaining an understanding of content knowledge or learning subject material" as their motivation to do well in school. As a result of these outside sources, and not a genuine desire for knowledge, students often do the minimum amount of work necessary to get by in their classes. This then leads to average grades and test grades but no real grasping of knowledge. Many students cited that "assignments/content was irrelevant or meaningless" and that this was the cause of their apathetic attitudes toward their schooling, leading to teacher and parent frustration. Other causes of apathy in students include situations within their home life, media influences, peer influences, and school struggles and failures. Some of the signs of apathetic students include declining grades, skipping classes, routine illness, and behavioral changes both in school and at home. In order to combat this, teachers have to be aware that students have different motivation profiles; i.e. they are motivated by different factors or stimuli.

Bystander

Also known as the bystander effect, bystander apathy occurs when, during an emergency, those standing by do nothing to help but instead stand by and watch. Sometimes this can be caused by one bystander observing other bystanders and imitating their behavior. If other people are not acting in a way that makes the situation seem like an emergency that needs attention, often other bystanders will act in the same way. The diffusion to responsibility