title: Culture shapes empathic responses to physical and social pain.
abstract: The present research investigates the extent to which cultural background moderates empathy in response to observing someone undergoing physical or social pain. In 3 studies, we demonstrate that East Asian and White British participants differ in both affective and cognitive components of their empathic reactions in response to someone else's pain. Compared with East Asian participants, British participants report greater empathic concern and show lower empathic accuracy. More important, findings cannot be explained by an in-group advantage effect. Potential reasons for observed cultural differences are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record
authors.affiliation: School of Psychology, University of Kent.
authors.forename: David
authors.identifier: 0000-0003-1381-6861
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Atkins
authors.affiliation: School of Psychology, University of Kent.
authors.forename: Ayse K
authors.initials: AK
authors.lastname: Uskul
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Centre of Brain Science, University of Essex.
authors.forename: Nicholas R
authors.initials: NR
authors.lastname: Cooper
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D003431:Cross-Cultural Comparison; D004645:Empathy; D005202:Asia, Eastern / Q000208:ethnology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010146:Pain / Q000208:ethnology* / Q000523:psychology*; D012938:Social Perception; D006113:United Kingdom / Q000208:ethnology; D044465:White People / Q000208:ethnology; D055815:Young Adult