An interview with neuroscientist V.S. Ramachandran, one of the most ardent defenders of mirror neurons as responsible for empathy and hence "being human":
​http://greatergood.berkeley.edu/article/item/do_mirror_neurons_give_empathy

This was the research question asked to about 250 undergraduates of an American university. Please read the post of the Animal & Society Institute for the results:
https://www.animalsandsociety.org/new-research-people-disturbed-dog-human-suffering/

In German only - an article by the Swiss daily Tagesanzeiger on how videogames might (also thoughnot necessarily) create more empathy with minorities or outsiders by placing violence into specific emotional contexts:
http://www.tagesanzeiger.ch/digital-wissen/zocken-mit-gefuehl/story/24313955