There is a striking disconnect between how the term “empathy” is used in popular culture and the scientific, psychological construct of empathy, Washington University Associate Professor of Psychological & Brain Science Alan Lambert says. Lambert has dedicated his career to studying the nuances of empathy, stereotypes and prejudice, topics that are particularly relevant in today’s highly polarized sociopolitical climate.

Empathy, as a trait, is a stable and lasting facet of personality that enables people to understand another person’s internal or emotional state. However, empathy has its limits—limits that aren’t always well-known by those outside of the field.

“When people use the term empathy in their everyday lives, they are thinking of a prototype of somebody who is embracing all points of view even if not their own,” Lambert said. “[Yale psychologist] Paul Bloom makes a point that the data show the way empathy works is more aligned with this gut-level response to people where, if you’re with me, if you’re part of my tribe, my empathy will extend to you.”

Empathy is often hailed as the solution to intergroup conflict, Lambert says. His research has revealed that is not always the case.

“The stereotypic image is empathic people never having conflict or being able to smooth out relationships with any and all people they come into contact with,” Lambert said. “I don’t think that’s true. I think that’s too simplistic.”

In several experiments, Lambert measured participants on their trait empathy. Their opinions were then gauged on controversial social or political topics, including a border wall separating the United States and Mexico, Michael Brown’s murder in Ferguson and a fictional vignette about a potential date rape.

“Intuition suggests to reduce conflict you want to get people who are empathic, and that would tend to reduce it, but the exact opposite happened,” he said.

Those who were higher in trait-based empathy actually had stronger opinions, leading to increased polarization. Lambert ties this back to the human tendency to side with those we perceive as being in our in-group, or like us. Empathic people tend to be rooted even more intensely focused on the emotions, perspectives and internal states of those who we perceive to be like us.

“Liberals tend to be empathic toward issues and causes that align with a liberal perspective, and conservatives tend to do that with causes aligned with their perspective,” Lambert shared. “The net result is empathic liberals tend to be very supportive of liberal causes, while empathic conservatives tend to be very supportive of conservative causes.”

However, that doesn’t mean empathy is harmful in conflict resolution. Lambert emphasizes that, in addition to scoring high in trait empathy, in order to truly take another person’s point of view, people should also be able to recognize and suppress their own internal biases. Seeing things from another person’s worldview, he says, takes “cognitive effort.”

“Empathy is a limited resource,” Lambert said. “We tend to partition our alliances and devote our sympathy and compassion to people who we think are deserving.”

Lambert says he sees this play out often on social media. Controversial or upsetting posts often prompt “knee-jerk reactions,” causing people to reply with disgust or rejection without thinking through their response.

“Empathy is about taking the time to appreciate another person’s point of view even if you strongly disagree,” Lambert said.

It is especially important for people who are training to work in fields that demand long working hours and interaction with clients from diverse backgrounds to be aware of their biases. Stress can decrease the ability to take the perspectives of those with different viewpoints. At the same time, working long hours can potentially increase the risk of “empathy failures.”

“When people become cognitively overloaded, it becomes proportionally harder to connect with and be sympathetic with members of the out-group,” Lambert said. “Medical schools are aware of this, and the term they call this is ‘empathy burnout.’ Everything else being equal, it’s hard to be empathic and concerned and sympathetic if you’ve just worked a 10-hour shift. Empathy is a limited resource. So there’s two things going on: Over time you are likely to become less sympathetic toward your patients, and also at the same time, it’s harder to connect with out-group members.”

Practicing empathy, most crucially, takes effort. Lambert says it is important to know that being sympathetic and compassionate doesn’t always come naturally. Being able to slow down and recognize one’s own cognitive biases is crucial.

“Empathy is not the antidote to conflict that it might seem to be, and in some cases, it can accentuate or make things worse,” he said. “It would be nice if empathic people loved everybody and wanted to support everybody, but if you think about it, that’s unlikely to happen. We all have our own subjective sense of who is right, who is wrong, who should be punished and who should be compensated. What empathy does is drive or fuel that.”