Abstract

Empathy enables human beings to understand and share the internal states of others. Studies show that empathy for pain is higher for in-group compared to out-group members. This might be driven by attitudes and biases towards out-groups. In a between subject design, N = 621 participants filled in questionnaires measuring xenophobia and trait empathy and were presented with photos of suffering individuals either from the in-group or an out-group, which had to be rated with respect to negative affect and the willingness to help the depicted persons. Results do not show more compassion with members of the in-group in general, but a negative effect of xenophobia on state empathy in the out-group condition. Additional moderation analyses show that this effect is less evident in presence of high trait empathy scores. Our results highlight the importance of empathy trainings to attenuate the effects of xenophobic attitudes on social cohabitation in our increasingly polarized and culturally diverse societies.

Details

Title
The negative impact of xenophobia on compassion with suffering out-group members is attenuated by trait empathy
Author
Plieger, Thomas 1   VIAFID ORCID Logo  ; Marx, Sophie 1 ; von Gagern, Elena 1 ; Bode, Stefan 2 ; Reuter, Martin 1 

1  University of Bonn, Department of Psychology, Bonn, Germany (GRID:grid.10388.32) (ISNI:0000 0001 2240 3300) 
2  The University of Melbourne, Melbourne School of Psychological Sciences, Melbourne, Australia (GRID:grid.1008.9) (ISNI:0000 0001 2179 088X) 
Publication year
2022
Publication date
2022
Publisher
Nature Publishing Group
e-ISSN
20452322
Source type
Scholarly Journal
Language of publication
English
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-022-23776-8
ProQuest document ID
2733868688
Copyright
© The Author(s) 2022. This work is published under http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ (the “License”). Notwithstanding the ProQuest Terms and Conditions, you may use this content in accordance with the terms of the License.