Empathy and intergroup relations.

Abstract

Empathy has received increasing empirical attention in the study of intergroup relations. Much of this research has focused on the potential of interventions that generate empathy for improving intergroup attitudes and reducing intergroup bias. Specifically, this work typically explores how empathy mediates the effects of various manipulations, such as direct instructions to imagine how an outgroup member feels on participants' attitudes toward the outgroup as a whole. In this chapter, we offer complementary perspectives on the role of empathy in intergroup relations. In addition, we examine other potential roles of empathy in intergroup relations, considering the direct impact of intergroup empathy on behavior and how intergroup attitudes can moderate the arousal of empathy and its subsequent intergroup impact.We consider three perspectives on the relations among empathy, intergroup attitudes, and group membership. Our goal is not to test these as corn-Preparation of this chapter was supported by NSF Grant #BCS-0613218 awarded to the first and third authors.

¿Malos Para Aceptar la Diversidad? Predictores Socio-Demográficos y Psicológicos de las Actitudes Hacia el Multiculturalismo en Chile

“…Aunque muchos estudios analizan la empatía desde un nivel interpersonal (v.g., cuando una persona se encuentra con otra que está afligida), también está siendo empleada para entender procesos intergrupales (v.g., cuando la persona afligida es un miembro de un exogrupo estigmatizado; Dovidio et al, 2009). La literatura sobre relaciones intergrupales ha mostrado cómo la deshumanización de los miembros de los exogrupos alienta las conductas derogatorias hacia estos grupos.…”

Us and Them: Intergroup Failures of Empathy

“…When an outgroup is perceived as antagonistic, people respond less empathically to outgroup members, but also more empathically to ingroup members (Dovidio et al, 2010;see, however, Xu et al, 2009 for a positive correlation between ingroup and outgroup empathic resonance). Agent-based simulations suggest that the motivation to help ingroup members, and hostility toward people from other ethnic or racial groups, may have co-evolved in humans: Group survival is more likely when many members are willing to fight in inter-group wars and even sacrifice themselves to protect others in their group (Choi & Bowles, 2007).…”

The role of empathy in intergroup relations

“…A c c e p t e d M a n u s c r i p t INTERGROUP EMPATHY 5 or persons on the basis of group memberships--has been, until lately, relatively neglected by researchers and its mechanisms are not well understood [6].…”