Edit: Actually, this whole thing is bizarre. "empathizing was rated as more effortful and distressing compared to staying objective"? Feelings are objective. Individuals objectively have feelings. Empathy is understanding and weighing other people's feelings, particularly when making decisions. There is absolutely nothing that is not objective about it.

The experimental design also seems to be asking the participants to empathise with people who very obviously don't exist with zero information about their fictional cirtumstances (not even any body language), which is bordering on impossible. I'd also really like to ask how it's "distressing" to try to empathise with an expressionless photograph on a solid background.

Junk research. Whoever approved funding for it should be fired.