1
|
Smids J, Bomhof CHC, Bunnik EM. 'Empathy counterbalancing' to mitigate the 'identified victim effect'? Ethical reflections on cognitive debiasing strategies to increase support for healthcare priority setting. JOURNAL OF MEDICAL ETHICS 2024:jme-2023-109646. [PMID: 38408851 DOI: 10.1136/jme-2023-109646] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/06/2023] [Accepted: 02/07/2024] [Indexed: 02/28/2024]
Abstract
Priority setting is inevitable to control expenditure on expensive medicines, but citizen support is often hampered by the workings of the 'identified victim effect', that is, the greater willingness to spend resources helping identified victims than helping statistical victims. In this paper we explore a possible cognitive debiasing strategy that is being employed in discussions on healthcare priority setting, which we call 'empathy counterbalancing' (EC). EC is the strategy of directing attention to, and eliciting empathy for, those who might be harmed as a result of one-sided empathy for the very ill who needs expensive treatment. We argue that governments have good reasons to attempt EC because the identified victim effect distorts priority setting in ways that undermine procedural fairness. We briefly outline three areas of application for EC and suggest some possible mechanisms that might explain how EC might work, if at all. We then discuss four potential ethical concerns with EC. First, EC might have the counterproductive effect of reducing overall citizen support for public funding of expensive medical treatments, thereby undermining solidarity. Second, EC may give rise to a 'competition in suffering', which may have unintended side effects for patients who feature in attempts at EC. Third, there may be doubts about whether EC is effective. Fourth, it may be objected that EC comes down to emotional manipulation, which governments should avoid. We conclude that insofar these concerns are valid they may be adequately addressed, and that EC seems a promising strategy that merits further investigation.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Jilles Smids
- Medical Ethics, Philosophy and History of Medicine, Erasmus Medical Center, Rotterdam, The Netherlands
| | - Charlotte H C Bomhof
- Medical Ethics, Philosophy and History of Medicine, Erasmus Medical Center, Rotterdam, The Netherlands
| | - Eline Maria Bunnik
- Medical Ethics, Philosophy and History of Medicine, Erasmus Medical Center, Rotterdam, The Netherlands
| |
Collapse
|
2
|
Górska G, Berkovich-Ohana A, Klimecki O, Trautwein FM. Situational assessment of empathy and compassion: Predicting prosociality using a video-based task. PLoS One 2023; 18:e0289465. [PMID: 38060491 PMCID: PMC10703325 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0289465] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/27/2023] [Accepted: 07/19/2023] [Indexed: 12/18/2023] Open
Abstract
Classical psychometric approaches in social science measure individuals' tendency to experience empathy and compassion. Using abstract questionnaire items, they place high demand on subjects' capacity to introspect, memorize, and generalize the corresponding emotions. We employed a Socio-affective Video Task (SoVT)-an alternative approach that measures situationally elicited emotions-and assessed its predictive power over prosocial behavior against classical questionnaires in a sample of Israeli university students. We characterized the conceptual embedding of the SoVT concerning other measures of prosocial affect and cognition, and tested group identification as an alternative precursor to prosocial behavior. Eighty participants rated their reactions to videos that presented the suffering of others or everyday scenes on scales of negative affect (providing a proxy for elicited empathy) and compassion. We then administered classical questionnaires that target empathy (the Interpersonal Reactivity Index) and compassion (the Compassionate Love Scale), as well as measures of hypothetical and real-life helping and prosocial attitudes-including conflict attitudes and intergroup bias. While compassion ratings in the SoVT failed to predict prosociality more accurately than classical questionnaires, the SoVT empathy index succeeded and correlated strongly with other precursors of prosociality. These results support video-based situational assessment as an implicit and robust alternative in the measurement of empathy-related processes.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Gabriela Górska
- National Information Processing Institute, Warsaw, Poland
- The Robert Zajonc Institute for Social Studies, Warsaw University
| | - Aviva Berkovich-Ohana
- Edmond J. Safra Brain Research Center for the Study of Learning Disabilities, Faculty of Education, University of Haifa, Haifa, Israel
- The Integrated Brain and Behavior Research Center (IBBRC), University of Haifa, Haifa, Israel
- Department of Learning and Instructional Sciences, Faculty of Education, University of Haifa, Haifa, Israel
- Department of Counseling and Human Development, Faculty of Education, University of Haifa, Haifa, Israel
| | - Olga Klimecki
- Swiss Center for Affective Sciences, University of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland
- Clinical Psychology and Behavioral Neuroscience, Faculty of Psychology, Technische Universität Dresden, Dresden, Germany
| | - Fynn-Mathis Trautwein
- Edmond J. Safra Brain Research Center for the Study of Learning Disabilities, Faculty of Education, University of Haifa, Haifa, Israel
- Department of Psychosomatic Medicine and Psychotherapy, Medical Center, Faculty of Medicine, University of Freiburg, Freiburg, Germany
| |
Collapse
|
3
|
Shelton JN, Turetsky KM, Park Y. Responsiveness in interracial interactions. Curr Opin Psychol 2023; 53:101653. [PMID: 37499533 DOI: 10.1016/j.copsyc.2023.101653] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/31/2023] [Revised: 06/21/2023] [Accepted: 06/26/2023] [Indexed: 07/29/2023]
Abstract
Perceived responsiveness-feeling understood, validated, and cared for-is critical for wellbeing and successful relationships, yet these feelings are experienced less frequently in interracial interactions than in same race-interactions. In this article, we synthesize recent research on responsiveness in interracial interactions and relationships. We first highlight how responsiveness differs in interracial versus same-race contexts. We next discuss the role of cross-race partners' goals and motivations in responsiveness, with particular attention to the ways in which self-presentation goals undermine responsiveness as well as emerging research on goals and motivations that may facilitate responsiveness in interracial interactions. Finally, we discuss how a contextual factor, the salience of race, influences responsiveness in interracial interactions.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- J Nicole Shelton
- Princeton University, Psychology Department, 520 Peretsman Scully Hall, Princeton, NJ 08540, USA.
| | - Kate M Turetsky
- Barnard College, Columbia University, Psychology Department, 415 Milbank Hall, 3009 Broadway, New York, NY 10027, USA
| | - Yeji Park
- Princeton University, Psychology Department, 520 Peretsman Scully Hall, Princeton, NJ 08540, USA
| |
Collapse
|
4
|
Deist M, Fourie MM. (Not) part of the team: Racial empathy bias in a South African minimal group study. PLoS One 2023; 18:e0283902. [PMID: 37023090 PMCID: PMC10079011 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0283902] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/03/2021] [Accepted: 03/20/2023] [Indexed: 04/07/2023] Open
Abstract
Minimal Group Paradigm (MGP) research suggests that recategorization with an arbitrarily defined group may be sufficient to override empathy biases among salient social categories like race. However, most studies utilizing MGPs do not consider sufficiently the socio-historical contexts of social groups. Here we investigated whether the recategorization of White participants into arbitrarily defined mixed-race teams using a non-competitive MGP would ameliorate racial empathy biases towards ingroup team members in the South African context. Sixty participants rated their empathic and counter-empathic (Schadenfreude, Glückschmerz) responses to ingroup and outgroup team members in physically painful, emotionally distressing, and positive situations. As anticipated, results indicated significant ingroup team biases in empathic and counter-empathic responses. However, mixed-race minimal teams were unable to override ingroup racial empathy biases, which persisted across events. Interestingly, a manipulation highlighting purported political ideological differences between White and Black African team members did not exacerbate racial empathy bias, suggesting that such perceptions were already salient. Across conditions, an internal motivation to respond without prejudice was most strongly associated with empathy for Black African target individuals, regardless of their team status. Together, these results suggest that racial identity continues to provide a salient motivational guide in addition to more arbitrary group memberships, even at an explicit level, for empathic responding in contexts characterized by historical power asymmetry. These data further problematize the continued official use of race-based categories in such contexts.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Melanie Deist
- Centre for the Study of the Afterlife of Violence and the Reparative Quest, Stellenbosch University, Stellenbosch, South Africa
| | - Melike M Fourie
- Centre for the Study of the Afterlife of Violence and the Reparative Quest, Stellenbosch University, Stellenbosch, South Africa
- Neuroscience Institute, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa
| |
Collapse
|
5
|
Zheng D, Berry DR, Brown KW. Effects of Brief Mindfulness Meditation and Compassion Meditation on Parochial Empathy and Prosocial Behavior Toward Ethnic Out-Group Members. Mindfulness (N Y) 2023:1-17. [PMID: 37362189 PMCID: PMC10040311 DOI: 10.1007/s12671-023-02100-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 02/27/2023] [Indexed: 03/28/2023]
Abstract
Objectives Relative to the tendency to empathize with and help sociocultural in-group members, there are often social and psychological barriers to responding prosocially toward out-group members. This experiment examined the roles of mindfulness instruction and compassion instruction in fostering prosocial behavior toward an ethnic out-group (non-U.S. Arabs) relative to an ethnic in-group (U.S. residents). The study also examined whether contemplative practices would predict less parochial empathy and whether parochial empathy would mediate the relations between mindfulness/compassion and prosocial behavior toward the out-group. Method A national sample of n = 450 U.S. residents was recruited online via the Prolific platform using the standard sample function, which distributed the study to available participants on Prolific. Participants were randomly assigned to one of three brief, structurally equivalent audio-recorded instruction conditions: mindfulness meditation, compassion meditation, or a relaxation control, and then completed a series of tasks to assess prosociality toward in- and out-group members. Results The compassion training was most effective in reducing parochial empathy when controlling for all covariates. The mindfulness training reduced parochial empathy when controlling for in-group empathy, and it led to greater out-group altruism and support for out-group immigration. Parochial empathy predicted out-group altruism; however, it was not a better predictor of support for Arab immigration than trait empathic concern. Training conditions did not differ on support for out-group cause. Exploratory moderation analyses found that those with higher trait empathic concern and intergroup contact quality were more likely to show compassion training and mindfulness training effects, respectively, on support for out-group immigration. Conclusions Brief compassion training had the strongest effect on parochial empathy, but mindfulness training showed stronger effects on out-group altruism and support for out-group immigration. Predisposing social psychological characteristics may enhance intergroup prosociality among those receiving compassion or mindfulness instruction. Preregistration This study is preregistered at https://osf.io/rnc97. Supplementary Information The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s12671-023-02100-z.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Denise Zheng
- Department of Psychology, Virginia Commonwealth University, 806 West Franklin Street, Richmond, VA 23284 USA
| | - Daniel R. Berry
- Department of Psychology, California State University San Marcos, San Marcos, USA
| | - Kirk Warren Brown
- Department of Psychology, Virginia Commonwealth University, 806 West Franklin Street, Richmond, VA 23284 USA
- Department of Psychology, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, USA
| |
Collapse
|
6
|
Pluta A, Mazurek J, Wojciechowski J, Wolak T, Soral W, Bilewicz M. Exposure to hate speech deteriorates neurocognitive mechanisms of the ability to understand others' pain. Sci Rep 2023; 13:4127. [PMID: 36914701 PMCID: PMC10011534 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-023-31146-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/22/2022] [Accepted: 03/07/2023] [Indexed: 03/16/2023] Open
Abstract
The widespread ubiquity of hate speech affects people's attitudes and behavior. Exposure to hate speech can lead to prejudice, dehumanization, and lack of empathy towards members of outgroups. However, the impact of exposure to hate speech on empathy and propensity to attribute mental states to others has never been directly tested empirically. In this fMRI study, we examine the effects of exposure to hate speech on neural mechanisms of empathy towards ingroup (Poles) versus outgroup members (Arabs). Thirty healthy young adults were randomly assigned to 2 groups: hateful and neutral. During the fMRI study, they were initially exposed to hateful or neutral comments and subsequently to narratives depicting Poles and Arabs in pain. Using whole-brain and region of interest analysis, we showed that exposure to derogatory language about migrants attenuates the brain response to someone else's pain in the right temporal parietal junction (rTPJ), irrespective of group membership (Poles or Arabs). Given that rTPJ is associated with processes relevant to perspective-taking, its reduced activity might be related to a decreased propensity to take the psychological perspective of others. This finding suggests that hate speech affects human functioning beyond intergroup relations.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Agnieszka Pluta
- Faculty of Psychology, University of Warsaw, Stawki 5/7 Street, 00-183, Warszawa, Poland. .,Bioimaging Research Center, World Hearing Center of Institute of Physiology and Pathology of Hearing, Warszawa, Poland.
| | - Joanna Mazurek
- Faculty of Psychology, University of Warsaw, Stawki 5/7 Street, 00-183, Warszawa, Poland
| | - Jakub Wojciechowski
- Bioimaging Research Center, World Hearing Center of Institute of Physiology and Pathology of Hearing, Warszawa, Poland.,Laboratory of Emotions Neurobiology, Nencki Institute of Experimental Biology PAS, Warsaw, Poland
| | - Tomasz Wolak
- Bioimaging Research Center, World Hearing Center of Institute of Physiology and Pathology of Hearing, Warszawa, Poland
| | - Wiktor Soral
- Faculty of Psychology, University of Warsaw, Stawki 5/7 Street, 00-183, Warszawa, Poland
| | - Michał Bilewicz
- Faculty of Psychology, University of Warsaw, Stawki 5/7 Street, 00-183, Warszawa, Poland
| |
Collapse
|
7
|
Groggel A, Davis JL, Love TP. Facing Others’ Trauma: A Role-Taking Theory of Burnout. SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY QUARTERLY 2022. [DOI: 10.1177/01902725221128392] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/03/2022]
Abstract
The experience of “burnout” is characterized by emotional fatigue and detachment associated with intensive stress. Burnout is prevalent across personal and professional spheres, with increasing cultural salience. Multiple factors can contribute to burnout. Here, we focus on one: exposure to others’ trauma. This circumstance spans domains from social service professions to social media newsfeeds, with potentially deleterious effects on the self. To understand the conditions under which trauma exposure results in burnout, we propose and test a role–taking model. We do so by presenting study participants (N = 723) with a first–person account of intimate partner violence, stimulating an acute instance of trauma exposure. Findings show that higher levels of role–taking increase burnout, with antecedents and outcomes tied to role-taking’s cognitive and affective components. This study clarifies how burnout occurs within the scope of trauma exposure while expanding role–taking research beyond the interpersonal benefits that have monopolized scholarly attention to date.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Anne Groggel
- The Australian National University, Canberra, Australia
| | | | - Tony P. Love
- The Australian National University, Canberra, Australia
- University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY, USA
| |
Collapse
|
8
|
Fourie MM, Moore-Berg SL. We cannot empathize with what we do not recognize: Perceptions of structural versus interpersonal racism in South Africa. Front Psychol 2022; 13:838675. [PMID: 36248600 PMCID: PMC9555212 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2022.838675] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/18/2021] [Accepted: 09/08/2022] [Indexed: 01/10/2023] Open
Abstract
Recent research suggests holding a structural, rather than interpersonal, understanding of racism is associated with greater impetus to address racial disparities. We believe greater acknowledgment of structural racism also functions to mitigate against empathic failures in response to structural injustices. Given South Africa’s situatedness as a country characterized by historical racialized oppression and continuing unjust legacies, it is appropriate to examine these ideas there. Across three studies, we tested the hypotheses that members of advantaged groups’ perspective taking and empathic concern may be compromised in response to people challenging the unequal status quo, and that a priori perceptions about the impact of structural (vs interpersonal) racism may mitigate or exacerbate such empathic failures. In Study 1, a national sample of White South Africans (n = 195) endorsed perceptions of interpersonal racism more readily than perceptions of structural racism, and expressed high levels of competitive victimhood for perceived anti-White structural racism. Studies 2 (n = 138) and 3 (n = 85) showed that White participants at a historically White university responded with impaired perspective taking and intergroup empathy bias in response to people challenging structural disparities. Finally, reduced recognition of continuing structural racism predicted greater intergroup empathy bias, which, in turn, was associated with reduced willingness to engage in intergroup discussions about past harm (Study 3). We propose that greater acknowledgment of structural racism is necessary not only to surmount intergroup empathic failures, but also to transcend the socioeconomically unequal legacies of apartheid and beyond.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Melike M. Fourie
- Centre for the Study of the Afterlife of Violence and the Reparative Quest, Stellenbosch University, Stellenbosch, South Africa
- *Correspondence: Melike M. Fourie,
| | - Samantha L. Moore-Berg
- Annenberg School for Communication, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, United States
| |
Collapse
|
9
|
Cognitive cost of empathizing with mothers and strangers by Chinese college students. Heliyon 2022; 8:e10306. [PMID: 36091955 PMCID: PMC9450072 DOI: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2022.e10306] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/15/2022] [Revised: 06/08/2022] [Accepted: 08/09/2022] [Indexed: 01/10/2023] Open
Abstract
Background Empathy is a choice and the product of a dynamic decision process based on motivation. The value trade-off in empathy is object-specific and people are more likely to empathize with ingroup, especially empathize with whom we are particularly concerned. The mother is an integral part of the self-concept, but the status of the mother in the self-concept of the eastern and western subjects was different. Previous studies have shown that mother is integrated in self-concept and share the same motivational hierarchy with self in Chinese brain. Objectives The study's purpose is to investigate the empathic choice for mothers in Chinese culture and its regulatory mechanism. Methods Three experiments were conducted to investigate whether Chinese college students would choose to empathize with their mothers. Experiment 1 used the Empathy Selection Task to examine the empathic choices between mother-other and stranger-other conditions with two blocks of 50 trials, and used the NASA Task Load Index to evaluate the cognitive costs for each deck option presented; Experiment 2 induced a disagreeable emotional state and replicate the same conditions of the experiment 1; Experiment 3 induced an agreeable emotional state and replicate the same conditions of the experiment one. Results and conclusions The results showed that: (1) participants tended to avoid empathizing with their mothers and strangers for to the cognitive cost; (2) participants were more likely to choose empathy when the target was their mother rather than when the target was a stranger-other, due to the social reward; and (3) participants were more likely to opt to empathize with their mothers when positive emotions towards their mothers were primed. The results suggested that empathy is a choice and the product of a dynamic decision process based on motivation and the value trade-off in empathy is object-specific.
Collapse
|
10
|
Santos LA, Voelkel JG, Willer R, Zaki J. Belief in the Utility of Cross-Partisan Empathy Reduces Partisan Animosity and Facilitates Political Persuasion. Psychol Sci 2022; 33:1557-1573. [PMID: 36041234 DOI: 10.1177/09567976221098594] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/10/2023] Open
Abstract
In polarized political environments, partisans tend to deploy empathy parochially, furthering division. We propose that belief in the usefulness of cross-partisan empathy-striving to understand other people with whom one disagrees politically-promotes out-group empathy and has powerful ramifications for both intra- and interpersonal processes. Across four studies (total N = 4,748), we examined these predictions in online and college samples using surveys, social-network analysis, preregistered experiments, and natural-language processing. Believing that cross-partisan empathy is useful is associated with less partisan division and politically diverse friendship networks (Studies 1 and 2). When prompted to believe that empathy is a political resource-versus a political weakness-people become less affectively polarized (Study 3) and communicate in ways that decrease out-partisans' animosity and attitudinal polarization (Study 4). These findings demonstrate that belief in cross-partisan empathy impacts not only individuals' own attitudes and behaviors but also the attitudes of those they communicate with.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
| | | | - Robb Willer
- Department of Sociology, Stanford University
| | - Jamil Zaki
- Department of Psychology, Stanford University
| |
Collapse
|
11
|
Behler AMC, Berry DR. Closing the empathy gap: A narrative review of the measurement and reduction of parochial empathy. SOCIAL AND PERSONALITY PSYCHOLOGY COMPASS 2022. [DOI: 10.1111/spc3.12701] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/10/2023]
Affiliation(s)
- Anna Maria C. Behler
- Department of Psychology North Carolina State University Raleigh North Carolina USA
| | - Daniel R. Berry
- Department of Psychology California State University San Marcos San Marcos California USA
| |
Collapse
|
12
|
Schumann K, Dragotta A. Empathy as a predictor of high‐quality interpersonal apologies. EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY 2021. [DOI: 10.1002/ejsp.2786] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/10/2023]
|
13
|
Penić S, Dukes D, Elcheroth G, Jayakody S, Sander D. Beyond Personal Empathy: Perceiving Inclusive Empathy as Socially Shared Predicts Support for Transitional Justice Mechanisms. AFFECTIVE SCIENCE 2021; 2:402-413. [PMID: 36043035 PMCID: PMC9382919 DOI: 10.1007/s42761-021-00086-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/01/2021] [Accepted: 10/14/2021] [Indexed: 06/15/2023]
Abstract
UNLABELLED In countries emerging from civil war, inclusive empathy is important for conflict resolution yet may be difficult to promote. Widening the predominant focus on personal inclusive empathy for conflict resolution, we examine whether support for transitional justice mechanisms (TJ) can be predicted by how much an individual perceives inclusive empathy as being shared in their local communities. Our results, based on a probability sample survey in post-war Sri Lanka (N = 580), reveal that the effects of this perceived communal inclusive empathy can be distinguished from those of personally experienced inclusive empathy, and that the more respondents perceive inclusive empathy as prevalent in their communities, the more they support TJ mechanisms. However, the results also indicate the contextual limits of perceived communal inclusive empathy as a resource for conflict resolution: participants tend to underestimate the prevalence of inclusive empathy, especially in militarized minority communities, and the more they underestimate it, the less they support TJ mechanisms. This study corroborates the importance of social influence in conflict resolution, suggesting that perception of inclusive empathy as shared in one's community is a key determinant of popular support for conflict-transforming policies. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s42761-021-00086-2.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Sandra Penić
- Swiss Centre for Affective Sciences, University of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland
| | - Daniel Dukes
- Swiss Centre for Affective Sciences, University of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland
- University of Fribourg, Fribourg, Switzerland
| | | | - Sumedha Jayakody
- University of Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland
- International Centre for Ethnic Studies, Kandy, Sri Lanka
| | - David Sander
- Swiss Centre for Affective Sciences, University of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland
| |
Collapse
|
14
|
Fourie MM, Verwoerd WJ. COVID-19 as Natural Intervention: Guilt and Perceived Historical Privilege Contributes to Structural Reform Under Conditions of Crisis. AFFECTIVE SCIENCE 2021; 3:34-45. [PMID: 34608456 PMCID: PMC8481112 DOI: 10.1007/s42761-021-00073-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/01/2020] [Accepted: 08/12/2021] [Indexed: 01/10/2023]
Abstract
The COVID-19 pandemic has been described as an unmasking of persistent racialized inequalities linked to South Africa’s oppressive past. However, such observations lack empirical support. Here we examined whether COVID-19 lockdown conditions encouraged greater perceptions of continuing structural racism together with motivational and behavioral support for social justice, and whether guilt or empathic concern undergirded such responses. A national sample of White South Africans’ data suggests that the pandemic served as a natural intervention, fostering greater acknowledgement of structural racism and support for redress through increased awareness of historical privilege and guilt in response to Black hardship. Guilt furthermore predicted a social justice motivation in relief efforts, whereas empathic concern predicted only charity motivation. These results suggest that “White guilt” is more consequential than empathic concern in contributing to structural reform but would require longer-term processes to support the translation of its motivational push into sustainable contributions to social justice.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Melike M Fourie
- Studies in Historical Trauma and Transformation, Stellenbosch University, Stellenbosch, 7600 South Africa
| | - Wilhelm J Verwoerd
- Studies in Historical Trauma and Transformation, Stellenbosch University, Stellenbosch, 7600 South Africa
| |
Collapse
|
15
|
Sassenrath C, Vorauer JD, Hodges SD. The link between perspective-taking and prosociality - Not as universal as you might think. Curr Opin Psychol 2021; 44:94-99. [PMID: 34601401 DOI: 10.1016/j.copsyc.2021.08.036] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/26/2021] [Revised: 08/27/2021] [Accepted: 08/31/2021] [Indexed: 01/10/2023]
Abstract
The path from perspective-taking to prosocial behavior is not as straightforward or robust as it is often assumed to be. In some contexts, imagining the viewpoint of other person leads the perspective taker to thoughts about how that person might have negative thoughts or intentions toward them. It can also prompt other kinds of counter-productive egocentric projection. In this review, we consider how prosocial processes potentially stimulated by perspective-taking can be derailed in such contexts. We also identify methodological limitations in current (social-) psychological evidence for a causal link between perspective-taking and prosocial outcomes. Increased appreciation of factors moderating the path from perspective-taking to prosocial behavior can enhance the explanatory power of perspective-taking as social cognitive process.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Claudia Sassenrath
- Department of Social Psychology, Ulm University, Albert-Einstein Allee 47, 89069 Ulm, Germany.
| | - Jacquie D Vorauer
- Department of Psychology, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, MB R3T 2N2, Canada
| | - Sara D Hodges
- Dept of Psychology, University of Oregon, Eugene, OR 97403-1227, USA
| |
Collapse
|
16
|
Merritt CC, MacCormack JK, Stein AG, Lindquist KA, Muscatell KA. The neural underpinnings of intergroup social cognition: an fMRI meta-analysis. Soc Cogn Affect Neurosci 2021; 16:903-914. [PMID: 33760100 PMCID: PMC8421705 DOI: 10.1093/scan/nsab034] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/10/2020] [Revised: 03/12/2021] [Accepted: 03/23/2021] [Indexed: 01/10/2023] Open
Abstract
Roughly 20 years of functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) studies have investigated the neural correlates underlying engagement in social cognition (e.g. empathy and emotion perception) about targets spanning various social categories (e.g. race and gender). Yet, findings from individual studies remain mixed. In the present quantitative functional neuroimaging meta-analysis, we summarized across 50 fMRI studies of social cognition to identify consistent differences in neural activation as a function of whether the target of social cognition was an in-group or out-group member. We investigated if such differences varied according to a specific social category (i.e. race) and specific social cognitive processes (i.e. empathy and emotion perception). We found that social cognition about in-group members was more reliably related to activity in brain regions associated with mentalizing (e.g. dorsomedial prefrontal cortex), whereas social cognition about out-group members was more reliably related to activity in regions associated with exogenous attention and salience (e.g. anterior insula). These findings replicated for studies specifically focused on the social category of race, and we further found intergroup differences in neural activation during empathy and emotion perception tasks. These results help shed light on the neural mechanisms underlying social cognition across group lines.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Carrington C Merritt
- Department of Psychology and Neuroscience, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC 27599, USA
| | - Jennifer K MacCormack
- Department of Psychology and Neuroscience, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC 27599, USA
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA 15213, USA
| | - Andrea G Stein
- Department of Psychology, University of Wisconsin–Madison, Madison, WI 53705, USA
| | - Kristen A Lindquist
- Department of Psychology and Neuroscience, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC 27599, USA
| | - Keely A Muscatell
- Department of Psychology and Neuroscience, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC 27599, USA
- Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC 27515, USA
- Carolina Population Center, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC 27515, USA
| |
Collapse
|
17
|
Feeling empathy for organizations: Moral consequences, mechanisms, and the power of framing. JOURNAL OF EXPERIMENTAL SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY 2021. [DOI: 10.1016/j.jesp.2021.104147] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/10/2023]
|
18
|
Lundgren O, Osika W. Cultivating the Interpersonal Domain: Compassion in the Supervisor-Doctoral Student Relationship. Front Psychol 2021; 12:567664. [PMID: 34093296 PMCID: PMC8176922 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2021.567664] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/30/2020] [Accepted: 03/23/2021] [Indexed: 01/10/2023] Open
Abstract
The long-term and complex supervisor-doctoral student relationship is often characterised by tension and frictions. In higher education research, models, and interventions that take the potential beneficial interpersonal effects of compassion into account seem to be scarce. Hence, the aim of this study was to conceptualise the potential role compassion could have in the cultivation of an affiliative and sustainable supervisor-doctoral student relationship. The concept of compassion was investigated and analysed in relation to a contemporary model of supervisor behaviours. Furthermore, a systematic literature search in the scientific databases PubMed, PsychInfo, ScienceDirect, and Google Scholar was performed. The conceptual analysis revealed that the interpersonal domain, in which compassion could afford a shared sense of warmth, is neglected in previous definitions. Furthermore, the integration of compassion into a model of adaptive supervisor behaviour indicates a strong case for a salutary role for compassion in the supervisor-doctoral student relationship. However, the literature review showed that empirical data are lacking, and more studies are needed. The role of compassion deserves to be investigated empirically in this particular interpersonal context.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Oskar Lundgren
- Division of Children's and Women's Health, Crown Princess Victoria Children's Hospital, Linköping, Sweden.,Department of Biomedical and Clinical Sciences, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Linköping University, Linköping, Sweden
| | - Walter Osika
- Department of Neurobiology, Care Sciences and Society, Center for Social Sustainability, Karolinska Institute, Stockholm, Sweden.,Department of Clinical Neuroscience, Center for Psychiatry Research, Karolinska Institute & Stockholm Health Care Services, Stockholm, Sweden
| |
Collapse
|
19
|
Fowler Z, Law KF, Gaesser B. Against Empathy Bias: The Moral Value of Equitable Empathy. Psychol Sci 2021; 32:766-779. [PMID: 33909983 DOI: 10.1177/0956797620979965] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/10/2023] Open
Abstract
Empathy has long been considered central to living a moral life. However, mounting evidence has shown that people's empathy is often biased toward (i.e., felt more strongly for) others that they are close or similar to, igniting a debate over whether empathy is inherently morally flawed and should be abandoned in efforts to strive toward greater equity. This debate has focused on whether empathy limits the scope of our morality, but little consideration has been given to whether our moral beliefs may be limiting our empathy. Across two studies conducted on Amazon's Mechanical Turk (N = 604), we investigated moral judgments of biased and equitable feelings of empathy. We observed a moral preference for empathy toward socially close over distant others. However, feeling equal empathy for all people is seen as the most morally and socially valuable approach. These findings provide new theoretical insight into the relationship between empathy and morality, and they have implications for navigating toward a more egalitarian future.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Zoë Fowler
- Department of Psychology, University at Albany, State University of New York
| | - Kyle Fiore Law
- Department of Psychology, University at Albany, State University of New York
| | - Brendan Gaesser
- Department of Psychology, University at Albany, State University of New York
| |
Collapse
|
20
|
Weisz E, Cikara M. Strategic Regulation of Empathy. Trends Cogn Sci 2020; 25:213-227. [PMID: 33386247 DOI: 10.1016/j.tics.2020.12.002] [Citation(s) in RCA: 59] [Impact Index Per Article: 14.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/08/2020] [Revised: 11/29/2020] [Accepted: 12/03/2020] [Indexed: 01/10/2023]
Abstract
Empathy is an integral part of socioemotional well-being, but recent research has highlighted some of its downsides. Here we examine literature that establishes when, how much, and what aspects of empathy promote specific outcomes. After reviewing a theoretical framework that characterizes empathy as a suite of separable components, we examine evidence showing how dissociations of these components affect important socioemotional outcomes and describe emerging evidence suggesting that these components can be independently and deliberately regulated. Finally, we advocate for an approach to a multicomponent view of empathy that accounts for the interrelations among components. This perspective advances scientific conceptualization of empathy and offers suggestions for tailoring empathy to help people realize their social, emotional, and occupational goals.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Erika Weisz
- Department of Psychology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA.
| | - Mina Cikara
- Department of Psychology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA
| |
Collapse
|
21
|
Berntsen MB, Cooper NR, Romei V. Emotional Valence Modulates Low Beta Suppression and Recognition of Social Interactions. J PSYCHOPHYSIOL 2020. [DOI: 10.1027/0269-8803/a000251] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/10/2023]
Abstract
Abstract. Emotional valence may have evolutionary adaptive purposes as negative stimuli can be related to survival against threat and positive stimuli to facilitating relationships. This can be seen in the different impact positive and negative stimuli have on human health and well-being, and in the valence-specific cortical activity and neurophysiological patterns reported; for example, negative stimuli are processed more rapidly than positive. Valence-specific patterns are affected by individual differences and personality traits such as empathy, where levels of empathy relate to different reactivity patterns to valence. Here we investigated the effect of valence on neurophysiological responses and interpretation of social interactions depicted by point-light biological motion (PLBM) displays. The meaning of each PLBM display is revealed as the sequence unfolds and is therefore not readily available for snap assessments such as fight or flight responses. We compared electroencephalogram (EEG) reactivity during observation of the displays between individuals with low, moderate, or high levels of empathy. Results indicated that positive displays induced significantly larger suppression in lower beta (13–20 Hz) compared to control displays, while negative displays revealed no difference in suppression compared to scrambled versions. However, no difference between positive and negative displays was observed, suggesting that the rapid processing of negative displays may have been minimized by revealing meaning more slowly. Positive displays were interpreted more accurately, while levels of empathy did not modulate either neurophysiological responses or interpretation, suggesting that empathy under these conditions did not influence the way in which valence was processed or interpreted.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Monica B. Berntsen
- Centre for Brain Science, Department of Psychology, University of Essex, Colchester, UK
| | - Nicholas R. Cooper
- Centre for Brain Science, Department of Psychology, University of Essex, Colchester, UK
| | - Vincenzo Romei
- Centre for Brain Science, Department of Psychology, University of Essex, Colchester, UK
- Department of Psychology and Centre for Studies and Researches in Cognitive Neuroscience, Cesena Campus, University of Bologna, Cesena, Italy
| |
Collapse
|
22
|
Condon P, Makransky J. Sustainable Compassion Training: Integrating Meditation Theory With Psychological Science. Front Psychol 2020; 11:2249. [PMID: 33041897 PMCID: PMC7518715 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2020.02249] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/27/2020] [Accepted: 08/11/2020] [Indexed: 01/10/2023] Open
Abstract
Meditation programs continue to proliferate in the modern world, with increasing participation from scientists and many others who seek to improve physical, mental, relational, and social flourishing. In developing such programs, the meditation practices have been adapted to meet the needs of modern cultures. However, through that adaptation, important contextual factors of traditional contemplative cultures are often dropped or forgotten. This article presents a system of compassion and mindfulness training, Sustainable Compassion Training (SCT), which is designed to help people cultivate increasingly unconditional, inclusive, and sustainable care for self and others. SCT aims to recover important contextual factors of meditation that flexibly meet the diverse needs of modern secular and religious participants. SCT draws on Tibetan Buddhism in dialogue with caregivers, other contemplative traditions and relevant scientific theories to inform meditative transformation for secular contexts. We provide an overview of SCT meditations that includes both contemplative and scientific theories that draw out important features of them. Each meditation includes novel hypotheses that are generated from this dialogical process. We also provide links to audio-guided meditations.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Paul Condon
- Department of Psychology, Southern Oregon University, Ashland, OR, United States
| | - John Makransky
- Department of Theology, Boston College, Chestnut Hill, MA, United States
| |
Collapse
|
23
|
Contreras-Huerta LS, Pisauro MA, Apps MAJ. Effort shapes social cognition and behaviour: A neuro-cognitive framework. Neurosci Biobehav Rev 2020; 118:426-439. [PMID: 32818580 DOI: 10.1016/j.neubiorev.2020.08.003] [Citation(s) in RCA: 25] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/15/2020] [Revised: 07/13/2020] [Accepted: 08/08/2020] [Indexed: 01/10/2023]
Abstract
Theoretical accounts typically posit that variability in social behaviour is a function of capacity limits. We argue that many social behaviours are goal-directed and effortful, and thus variability is not just a function of capacity, but also motivation. Leveraging recent work examining the cognitive, computational and neural basis of effort processing, we put forward a framework for motivated social cognition. We argue that social cognition is demanding, people avoid its effort costs, and a core-circuit of brain areas that guides effort-based decisions in non-social situations may similarly evaluate whether social behaviours are worth the effort. Thus, effort sensitivity dissociates capacity limits from social motivation, and may be a driver of individual differences and pathological impairments in social cognition.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Luis Sebastian Contreras-Huerta
- Department of Experimental Psychology, University of Oxford, OX2 6GG, UK; Wellcome Centre for Integrative Neuroimaging, University of Oxford, UK.
| | - M Andrea Pisauro
- Department of Experimental Psychology, University of Oxford, OX2 6GG, UK; Wellcome Centre for Integrative Neuroimaging, University of Oxford, UK; Centre for Human Brain Health, School of Psychology, University of Birmingham, UK.
| | - Matthew A J Apps
- Department of Experimental Psychology, University of Oxford, OX2 6GG, UK; Wellcome Centre for Integrative Neuroimaging, University of Oxford, UK; Centre for Human Brain Health, School of Psychology, University of Birmingham, UK; Christ Church College, University of Oxford, UK.
| |
Collapse
|
24
|
Baldner C, Di Santo D, Talamo A, Pierro A. Sympathy as knowledge of the other in need: An investigation into the roles of need for closure and the moral foundations on sympathy toward immigrants. JOURNAL OF APPLIED SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY 2020. [DOI: 10.1111/jasp.12654] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/10/2023]
Affiliation(s)
- Conrad Baldner
- Department of Social and Developmental Psychology Sapienza University of Rome Rome Italy
| | - Daniela Di Santo
- Department of Social and Developmental Psychology Sapienza University of Rome Rome Italy
| | - Alessandra Talamo
- Department of Social and Developmental Psychology Sapienza University of Rome Rome Italy
| | - Antonio Pierro
- Department of Social and Developmental Psychology Sapienza University of Rome Rome Italy
| |
Collapse
|
25
|
Sharon AJ, Baram-Tsabari A. The experts' perspective of "ask-an-expert": An interview-based study of online nutrition and vaccination outreach. PUBLIC UNDERSTANDING OF SCIENCE (BRISTOL, ENGLAND) 2020; 29:252-269. [PMID: 31971072 DOI: 10.1177/0963662519899884] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/10/2023]
Abstract
Social media allow experts to form communities and engage in direct dialogue with publics, which can promote mutual understanding between sciences and publics. However, little is known about experts' participation in online communities, or effective ways to prepare them for public engagement. Here, we explored these issues with experts who voluntarily engage with publics on social media, to understand their public engagement practices. Stimulated recall interviews were conducted with 20 experts who participate in question-and-answer Facebook groups dedicated to vaccines and nutrition. The findings suggest that experts employ diverse considerations in their outreach, partly to establish epistemic trustworthiness. These can be grouped into three goals and two constraints: countering misinformation, establishing benevolence, and establishing competence while maintaining integrity and clarity. Empathic failure and burnout both emerged as factors that impair establishing benevolence. We discuss implications for community-level science literacy and for preparing scientists for "bounded engagement with publics."
Collapse
|
26
|
Giannou K, Taylor JR, Lander K. Exploring the relationship between mindfulness, compassion and unfamiliar face identification. JOURNAL OF COGNITIVE PSYCHOLOGY 2020. [DOI: 10.1080/20445911.2020.1739693] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/10/2023]
Affiliation(s)
- Kyriaki Giannou
- Faculty of Biology Medicine and Health, Division of Neuroscience and Experimental Psychology, The University of Manchester, Manchester United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
| | - Jason R. Taylor
- Faculty of Biology Medicine and Health, Division of Neuroscience and Experimental Psychology, The University of Manchester, Manchester United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
| | - Karen Lander
- Faculty of Biology Medicine and Health, Division of Neuroscience and Experimental Psychology, The University of Manchester, Manchester United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
| |
Collapse
|
27
|
Nitschke JP, Bartz JA. Lower digit ratio and higher endogenous testosterone are associated with lower empathic accuracy. Horm Behav 2020; 119:104648. [PMID: 31785282 DOI: 10.1016/j.yhbeh.2019.104648] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/25/2019] [Revised: 11/22/2019] [Accepted: 11/23/2019] [Indexed: 01/10/2023]
Abstract
Empathy is a cornerstone of human sociality. It has important consequences for our interpersonal relationships and for navigating our social world more generally. Although research has identified numerous psychological factors that can influence empathy, evidence suggests that empathy may also be rooted in our biology and, in particular, the gonadal steroid hormone testosterone. To date, much of the research linking testosterone and empathy has focused on the 2D:4D ratio (i.e., the ratio of the lengths of the index and ring fingers), and the results have been mixed. These mixed results, however, may be due to reliance on self-report measures to assess empathy, which can be vulnerable to self-presentation, as well as social-cultural norms about gender/sex differences in empathy. Moreover, although some have argued that digit ratio is an indicator of prenatal androgen exposure, the evidence for this to date is weak. Here, we aimed to follow up on this prior work, using a naturalistic empathic accuracy task in which participants dynamically track, in real-time, the emotional state of targets. We show that lower digit ratio (Study 1; N = 107) and higher circulating testosterone (Study 2; N = 76) are associated with poorer empathic accuracy performance; critically, these effects hold when controlling for sex/gender. In neither study, however, did we find effects on self-reported empathy. Our results highlight the limitations of self-report measures and support the notion that endogenous testosterone levels as well as 2D:4D ratio are related to key social-cognitive competencies like empathic accuracy.
Collapse
|
28
|
Jenkins AC. Empathy affects tradeoffs between life's quality and duration. PLoS One 2019; 14:e0221652. [PMID: 31647809 PMCID: PMC6812864 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0221652] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/04/2019] [Accepted: 08/12/2019] [Indexed: 01/10/2023] Open
Abstract
Sharing others’ emotional experience through empathy has been widely linked to prosocial behavior, i.e., behavior that aims to improve others’ welfare. However, different aspects of a person’s welfare do not always move in concert. The present research investigated how empathy affects tradeoffs between two different aspects of others’ welfare: their experience (quality of life) and existence (duration of life). Three experiments offer evidence that empathy increases the priority people place on reducing others’ suffering relative to prolonging their lives. Participants assigned to high or low empathy conditions considered scenarios in which saving a person’s life was incompatible with extinguishing the person’s suffering. Higher empathy for a suffering accident victim was associated with greater preference to let the person die rather than keep the person alive. Participants expressed greater preference to end the lives of friends than strangers (Experiment 1), those whose perspectives they had taken than those whom they considered from afar (Experiment 2), and those who remained alert and actively suffering than those whose injuries had rendered them unconscious (Experiment 3). These results highlight a distinction between empathy’s effects on the motivation to reduce another person’s suffering and its effects on the prosocial behaviors that sometimes, but do not necessarily, follow from that motivation, including saving the person’s life. Results have implications for scientific understanding of the relationship between empathy and morality and for contexts in which people make decisions on behalf of others.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Adrianna C. Jenkins
- Department of Psychology, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States of America
- * E-mail:
| |
Collapse
|
29
|
Hasson Y, Schori-Eyal N, Landau D, Hasler BS, Levy J, Friedman D, Halperin E. The enemy's gaze: Immersive virtual environments enhance peace promoting attitudes and emotions in violent intergroup conflicts. PLoS One 2019; 14:e0222342. [PMID: 31509584 PMCID: PMC6738917 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0222342] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/23/2019] [Accepted: 08/27/2019] [Indexed: 01/10/2023] Open
Abstract
Perspective-taking is essential for improving intergroup relations. However, it is difficult to implement, especially in violent conflicts. Given that immersive virtual reality (VR) can simulate various points of view (POV), we examined whether it can lead to beneficial outcomes by promoting outgroup perspective-taking, even in armed conflicts. In two studies, Jewish-Israelis watched a 360° VR scene depicting an Israeli-Palestinian confrontation from different POVs–outgroup’s, ingroup’s while imagining outgroup perspective or ingroup’s without imagined perspective-taking. Participants immersed in the outgroup’s POV, but not those who imagined the outgroup’s perspective, perceived the Palestinians more positively than those immersed in the ingroup’s POV. Moreover, participants in the outgroup’s POV perceived the Palestinian population in general more favorably and judged a real-life ingroup transgression more strictly than those in the ingroup’s POV, even five months after VR intervention. Results suggest that VR can promote conflict resolution by enabling effective perspective-taking.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Yossi Hasson
- Psychology Department, The Hebrew University, Jerusalem, Israel
- School of Psychology, The Interdisciplinary Center, Herzliya, Israel
| | - Noa Schori-Eyal
- School of Psychology, The Interdisciplinary Center, Herzliya, Israel
| | - Daniel Landau
- School of Communications, The Interdisciplinary Center, Herzliya, Israel
- Department of Media, School of Arts, Design and Architecture, Aalto University, Espoo, Finland
| | - Béatrice S Hasler
- School of Communications, The Interdisciplinary Center, Herzliya, Israel
| | - Jonathan Levy
- School of Psychology, The Interdisciplinary Center, Herzliya, Israel
| | - Doron Friedman
- School of Communications, The Interdisciplinary Center, Herzliya, Israel
| | - Eran Halperin
- Psychology Department, The Hebrew University, Jerusalem, Israel
| |
Collapse
|
30
|
Bassett JF, Cleveland AJ. Identification with all humanity, support for refugees and for extreme counter-terrorism measures. JOURNAL OF SOCIAL AND POLITICAL PSYCHOLOGY 2019. [DOI: 10.5964/jspp.v7i1.678] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/10/2023] Open
Abstract
Two studies examined the ability of Identification with all Humanity to predict attitudes in the United States regarding support for refugees and tolerance for civilian casualties in the war on terrorism. We expected identification with humanity to predict more support for refugees and less tolerance of civilian casualties in the war on terrorism. Moreover, we expected these effects to hold even when taking into account more frequently studied predictors of intergroup attitudes. In Study 1, 202 people (143 women, Age M = 26.62) completed an online survey, assessing Identification with all Humanity, social dominance orientation, right-wing authoritarianism, political orientation, and religiosity. In Study 2, the same measures were administered in person to a sample of 126 university students (91 women, Age M = 18.92). Identification with all Humanity was associated with more support for refugees in both studies and less support for extreme counter-terrorism measures in Study 1, even when controlling for other variables.
Collapse
|
31
|
Motivated empathy: a social neuroscience perspective. Curr Opin Psychol 2018; 24:67-71. [DOI: 10.1016/j.copsyc.2018.05.005] [Citation(s) in RCA: 52] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/12/2018] [Revised: 03/24/2018] [Accepted: 05/03/2018] [Indexed: 01/10/2023]
|
32
|
Trait-level emotion regulation and emotional awareness predictors of empathic accuracy. MOTIVATION AND EMOTION 2018. [DOI: 10.1007/s11031-018-9741-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/10/2023]
|
33
|
Virtual reality perspective-taking increases cognitive empathy for specific others. PLoS One 2018; 13:e0202442. [PMID: 30161144 PMCID: PMC6116942 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0202442] [Citation(s) in RCA: 74] [Impact Index Per Article: 12.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/27/2018] [Accepted: 08/02/2018] [Indexed: 01/10/2023] Open
Abstract
Previous research shows that virtual reality perspective-taking experiences (VRPT) can increase prosocial behavior toward others. We extend this research by exploring whether this effect of VRPT is driven by increased empathy and whether the effect extends to ostensibly real-stakes behavioral games. In a pre-registered laboratory experiment (N = 180), participants interacted with an ostensible partner (a student from the same university as them) on a series of real-stakes economic games after (a) taking the perspective of the partner in a virtual reality, “day-in-the-life” simulation, (b) taking the perspective of a different person in a “day-in-the-life” simulation, or (c) doing a neutral activity in a virtual environment. The VRPT experience successfully increased participants’ subsequent propensity to take the perspective of their partner (a facet of empathy), but only if the partner was the same person whose perspective participants assumed in the virtual reality simulation. Further, this effect of VRPT on perspective-taking was moderated by participants’ reported feeling of immersion in the virtual environment. However, we found no effects of VRPT experience on behavior in the economic games.
Collapse
|
34
|
Abstract
We explore why people feel the socially improper emotions of schadenfreude (pleasure at another person’s or group’s misfortune) and gluckschmerz (pain at another person’s or group’s good fortune). One explanation follows from sentiment relations. Prior dislike leads to both schadenfreude and gluckschmerz. A second explanation relates to concerns over justice. Deserved misfortune is pleasing and undeserved good fortune is displeasing. A third explanation concerns appraisal of the good or bad fortunes of others as creating either benefit or harm for the self or in-group. Especially in competitive situations and when envy is present, gain is pleasing and loss is displeasing. Both emotions have important implications for understanding human relations at the individual and group levels.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
| | - Wilco W. van Dijk
- Department of Social and Organisational Psychology, Leiden University, The Netherlands
| |
Collapse
|
35
|
Affiliation(s)
- Judith A. Hall
- Department of Psychology, Northeastern University, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Rachel Schwartz
- Center for Innovation to Implementation, VA Palo Alto Health Care System, Menlo Park, CA
- Center for Health Policy and the Center for Primary Care and Outcomes Research, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA
| |
Collapse
|
36
|
Aknin LB, Van de Vondervoort JW, Hamlin JK. Positive feelings reward and promote prosocial behavior. Curr Opin Psychol 2018; 20:55-59. [DOI: 10.1016/j.copsyc.2017.08.017] [Citation(s) in RCA: 100] [Impact Index Per Article: 16.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/25/2017] [Revised: 06/21/2017] [Accepted: 08/03/2017] [Indexed: 01/10/2023]
|
37
|
Testing the impact and durability of a group malleability intervention in the context of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2018; 115:696-701. [PMID: 29311299 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1706800115] [Citation(s) in RCA: 27] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/10/2023] Open
Abstract
Fostering perceptions of group malleability (teaching people that groups are capable of change and improvement) has been shown to lead to short-term improvements in intergroup attitudes and willingness to make concessions in intractable conflicts. The present study, a field intervention involving 508 Israelis from three locations in Israel, replicated and substantially extended those findings by testing the durability of a group malleability intervention during a 6-month period of frequent violence. Three different 5-hour-long interventions were administered as leadership workshops. The group malleability intervention was compared with a neutral coping intervention and, importantly, with a state-of-the-art perspective-taking intervention. The group malleability intervention proved superior to the coping intervention in improving attitudes, hope, and willingness to make concessions, and maintained this advantage during a 6-month period of intense intergroup conflict. Moreover, it was as good as, and in some respects superior to, the perspective-taking intervention. These findings provide a naturalistic examination of the potential of group malleability interventions to increase openness to conflict resolution.
Collapse
|
38
|
De Freitas J, Cikara M. Deep down my enemy is good: Thinking about the true self reduces intergroup bias. JOURNAL OF EXPERIMENTAL SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY 2018. [DOI: 10.1016/j.jesp.2017.10.006] [Citation(s) in RCA: 29] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/10/2023]
|
39
|
Redford L, Ratliff KA. Empathy and humanitarianism predict preferential moral responsiveness to in-groups and out-groups. The Journal of Social Psychology 2017; 158:744-766. [PMID: 29206609 DOI: 10.1080/00224545.2017.1412933] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/10/2023]
Abstract
The current research tests whether empathy-sharing others' emotions-and humanitarianism-recognizing the moral worth of all people-each predict moral responsiveness toward others but in ways that favor in-groups and out-groups, respectively. In Studies 1 and 2, empathy and humanitarianism differentially predicted preferential moral concern for in-groups and out-groups. In Study 3, humanitarianism predicted lower in-group-targeted prosociality and greater out-group prosociality. In Study 4, empathy and humanitarianism predicted perceived moral obligation to in-groups and out-groups respectively. In Study 5, out-group obligation mediated between humanitarianism and allocations to out-group charities, and in-group obligation mediated between empathy and one of two in-group charities. In sum, empathy and humanitarianism are associated with preferential morality via group-based obligation, suggesting that morality could be extended by altering empathy, humanitarianism, or group processes.
Collapse
|
40
|
Adolphs R, Tusche A. From faces to prosocial behavior: cues, tools, and mechanisms. CURRENT DIRECTIONS IN PSYCHOLOGICAL SCIENCE 2017; 26:282-287. [PMID: 28943722 DOI: 10.1177/0963721417694656] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/10/2023]
Abstract
In this review we ask how looking at people's faces can influence prosocial behaviors towards them. Components of this process have often been studied by disparate literatures: one focused on perception and judgment of faces, using both psychological and neuroscience approaches; and a second focused on actual social behaviors, as studied in behavioral economics and decision science. Bridging these disciplines requires a more mechanistic account of how processing of particular face attributes or features influences social judgments and behaviors. Here we review these two lines of research, and suggest that combining some of their methodological tools can provide the bridging mechanistic explanations.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Ralph Adolphs
- Division of the Humanities and Social Sciences, California Institute of Technology, HSS 228-77, Pasadena, CA 91125, U.S.A
| | - Anita Tusche
- Division of the Humanities and Social Sciences, California Institute of Technology, HSS 228-77, Pasadena, CA 91125, U.S.A
| |
Collapse
|
41
|
Bruneau EG, Cikara M, Saxe R. Parochial Empathy Predicts Reduced Altruism and the Endorsement of Passive Harm. SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGICAL AND PERSONALITY SCIENCE 2017; 8:934-942. [PMID: 29276575 PMCID: PMC5734375 DOI: 10.1177/1948550617693064] [Citation(s) in RCA: 49] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/10/2023]
Abstract
Empathic failures are common in hostile intergroup contexts; repairing empathy is therefore a major focus of peacebuilding efforts. However, it is unclear which aspect of empathy is most relevant to intergroup conflict. Although trait empathic concern predicts prosociality in interpersonal settings, we hypothesized that the best predictor of meaningful intergroup attitudes and behaviors might not be the general capacity for empathy (i.e., trait empathy), but the difference in empathy felt for the in-group versus the out-group, or "parochial empathy." Specifically, we predicted that out-group empathy would inhibit intergroup harm and promote intergroup helping, whereas in-group empathy would have the opposite effect. In three intergroup contexts-Americans regarding Arabs, Hungarians regarding refugees, Greeks regarding Germans-we found support for this hypothesis. In all samples, in-group and out-group empathy had independent, significant, and opposite effects on intergroup outcomes, controlling for trait empathic concern.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Emile G. Bruneau
- Annenberg School for Communication, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA
- Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, USA
- Emile G. Bruneau, Annenberg School for Communication, University of Pennsylvania, 3620 Walnut Street, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA.
| | - Mina Cikara
- Department of Psychology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, USA
| | - Rebecca Saxe
- Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, USA
| |
Collapse
|
42
|
|
43
|
Empathy, Schmempathy: Response to Zaki. Trends Cogn Sci 2016; 21:60-61. [PMID: 28025006 DOI: 10.1016/j.tics.2016.12.003] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/02/2016] [Accepted: 12/04/2016] [Indexed: 01/10/2023]
|
44
|
Bloom P. Empathy and Its Discontents. Trends Cogn Sci 2016; 21:24-31. [PMID: 27916513 DOI: 10.1016/j.tics.2016.11.004] [Citation(s) in RCA: 132] [Impact Index Per Article: 16.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/04/2016] [Revised: 11/05/2016] [Accepted: 11/08/2016] [Indexed: 01/10/2023]
Abstract
What role does the experience of feeling what you think others are feeling - often known as 'empathy' - have in moral deliberation and moral action? Empathy has many fans and there is abundant evidence that it can motivate prosocial behavior. However, empathy is narrow in its focus, rendering it innumerate and subject to bias. It can motivate cruelty and aggression and lead to burnout and exhaustion. Compassion is distinct from empathy in its neural instantiation and its behavioral consequences and is a better prod to moral action, particularly in the modern world we live in.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Paul Bloom
- Department of Psychology, Yale University, New Haven, CT, USA.
| |
Collapse
|
45
|
Vorauer JD, Quesnel MS. Empathy by dominant versus minority group members in intergroup interaction: Do dominant group members always come out on top? GROUP PROCESSES & INTERGROUP RELATIONS 2016. [DOI: 10.1177/1368430216677303] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/10/2023]
Abstract
What power dynamics are instantiated when a minority group member empathizes with a dominant group member during social interaction? How do these dynamics compare to those instantiated when the dominant group member instead does the empathizing? According to a general power script account, because empathy is generally directed “down” toward disadvantaged targets needing support, the empathizer should come out “on top” with respect to power-relevant outcomes no matter who it is. According to a meta-stereotype account, because adopting an empathic stance in intergroup contexts leads individuals to think about how their own group is viewed (including with respect to power-relevant characteristics), the dominant group member might come out on top no matter which person empathizes. Two studies involving face-to-face intergroup exchanges yielded results that overall were consistent with the meta-stereotype account: Regardless of who does it, empathy in intergroup contexts seems more apt to exacerbate than mitigate group-based status differences.
Collapse
|
46
|
The Anatomy of Suffering: Understanding the Relationship between Nociceptive and Empathic Pain. Trends Cogn Sci 2016; 20:249-259. [PMID: 26944221 DOI: 10.1016/j.tics.2016.02.003] [Citation(s) in RCA: 115] [Impact Index Per Article: 14.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/02/2015] [Revised: 01/15/2016] [Accepted: 02/11/2016] [Indexed: 01/10/2023]
Abstract
Pain features centrally in numerous illnesses and generates enormous public health costs. Despite its ubiquity, the psychological and neurophysiological nature of pain remains controversial. Here, we survey one controversy in particular: the relation between nociceptive pain, which is somatic in origin, and empathic pain, which arises from observing others in pain. First, we review evidence for neural overlap between nociceptive and empathic pain and what this overlap implies about underlying mental representations. Then, we propose a framework for understanding the nature of the psychological and neurophysiological correspondence across these types of 'pain'. This framework suggests new directions for research that can better identify shared and dissociable representations underlying different types of distress, and can inform theories about the nature of pain.
Collapse
|