Minding the Gap: Narrative Descriptions about Mental States Attenuate Parochial Empathy.
In three experiments, we examine parochial empathy (feeling more empathy for in-group than out-group members) across novel group boundaries, and test whether we can mitigate parochial empathy with brief narrative descriptions. In the absence of individuating information, participants consistently report more empathy for members of their own assigned group than a competitive out-group. However, individualized descriptions of in-group and out-group targets significantly reduce parochial empathy by interfering with encoding of targets' group membership. Finally, the descriptions that most effectively decrease parochial empathy are those that describe targets' mental states. These results support the role of individuating information in ameliorating parochial empathy, suggest a mechanism for their action, and show that descriptions emphasizing targets' mental states are particularly effective.
Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, MIT, Cambridge, MA, 02139, United States of America.
Emile G
EG
Bruneau
Department of Psychology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, 02139, United States of America.
Mina
M
Cikara
Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, MIT, Cambridge, MA, 02139, United States of America.
Rebecca
R
Saxe
D000328:Adult; D004645:Empathy; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D012919:Social Behavior