Trustworthiness and Ideological Similarity (But Not Ideology) Promote Empathy

Stevens, Samantha; Jago, Carl P.; Jaśko, Katarzyna; Heyman, Gail D.

doi:10.1177/0146167220972245

Cited by 9 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 37 publications

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“…Previous work has demonstrated the influence of ideological salience on intergroup relations and the importance of understanding cognitive processes within larger ideological contexts [ 44 – 46 ]. Opposing political ideologies have also been shown to modulate empathic responses, with greater empathy reported between individuals with similar political ideologies [ 47 , 48 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

(Not) part of the team: Racial empathy bias in a South African minimal group study

Deist

Fourie

2023

PLoS ONE

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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.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

(Not) part of the team: Racial empathy bias in a South African minimal group study

Deist

Fourie

2023

PLoS ONE

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“…Moreover, not all prior studies have supported the idea of ideological asymmetry. For instance, one study ( 17 ) found no difference between liberals and conservatives in the empathy they felt toward their political opponents. Further, although aggression is indeed included in classic conceptualizations of RWA, there have been suggestions that RWA is not necessarily a unidimensional construct and that relations between its subdimensions and social outcomes may be more complex ( 18 ).…”

Section: Left-wing Versus Right-wing Extremismmentioning

confidence: 99%

A comparison of political violence by left-wing, right-wing, and Islamist extremists in the United States and the world

Jaśko

LaFree

Piazza

et al. 2022

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

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Although political violence has been perpetrated on behalf of a wide range of political ideologies, it is unclear whether there are systematic differences between ideologies in the use of violence to pursue a political cause. Prior research on this topic is scarce and mostly restricted to self-reported measures or less extreme forms of political aggression. Moreover, it has generally focused on respondents in Western countries and has been limited to either comparisons of the supporters of left-wing and right-wing causes or examinations of only Islamist extremism. In this research we address these gaps by comparing the use of political violence by left-wing, right-wing, and Islamist extremists in the United States and worldwide using two unique datasets that cover real-world examples of politically motivated, violent behaviors. Across both datasets, we find that radical acts perpetrated by individuals associated with left-wing causes are less likely to be violent. In the United States, we find no difference between the level of violence perpetrated by right-wing and Islamist extremists. However, differences in violence emerge on the global level, with Islamist extremists being more likely than right-wing extremists to engage in more violent acts.

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“…For instance, individuals are motivated to feel more empathy toward people who share their political views (Hasson et al, 2018). Likemindedness has been argued to be a stand-alone reason for feeling empathy toward an individual (Stevens et al, 2020).…”

Section: Social Identity Theory Approach To Bystander Reactionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Hate and harassment in academia: the rising concern of the online environment

et al. 2021

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Hostile online communication is a global concern. Academic research and teaching staff are among those professionals who routinely give public comments and are thus vulnerable to online attacks. This social psychological and criminological study investigated online harassment victimization among university researchers and teachers. Survey participants (N = 2,492) were university research and teaching staff members from five major universities in Finland. Victimization was assessed with a 20-item inventory. The study included a wide range of both background and general measures on well-being at work. Participants also took part in an online experiment involving a death threat targeting a colleague. Results showed that 30% of the participants reported being victims of online harassment during the prior 6 months. Victims were more often senior staff members, minority group members, and from the social sciences and humanities. Those active in traditional or social media were much more likely to be targeted. Victims reported higher psychological distress, lower generalized trust, and lower perceived social support at work than non-victims. Individuals who were targeted by a colleague from their work community reported higher post-traumatic stress disorder scores and a higher impact of perceived online harassment on their work compared to other victims. In the experimental part of the study, participants reported more anxiety when a close colleague received a death threat. Participants also recommended more countermeasures to a close colleague than to an unknown person from the same research field. Results indicate that online harassment compromises well-being at work in academia. There is an urgent need to find ways of preventing online harassment, both in workplaces and in society at large.

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Trustworthiness and Ideological Similarity (But Not Ideology) Promote Empathy

Cited by 9 publications

References 37 publications

(Not) part of the team: Racial empathy bias in a South African minimal group study

(Not) part of the team: Racial empathy bias in a South African minimal group study

A comparison of political violence by left-wing, right-wing, and Islamist extremists in the United States and the world

Hate and harassment in academia: the rising concern of the online environment

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