The interplay of empathy, oneness and perceived similarity in mediating the effects of perspective taking on prosocial responses
Year: 2010
Type: dissertation
Abstract: Perspective taking has been identified as one of the most promising techniques for reducing prejudice and promoting more harmonious intergroup relationships. Yet, there is little consensus on which mechanisms can better account for such beneficial effects (see Batson & Ahamad, 2009 and Galinsky, Ku & Wang, 2005). The present work aimed at providing an integrative view of how perspective taking can promote prosocial responses to stigmatized others, by simultaneously examining the mediating role of empathy, oneness and perceived interpersonal similarity. Four experimental studies were conducted in the context of interethnic relationships in Italy. In the first three studies, perspective taking was manipulated through written instructions, while in the fourth study two of the key mediators were manipulated by varying participants’ attentional focus on feelings vs. similarities. For all studies, mediation processes were examined adopting a structural equation model approach. Results showed that participants encouraged to take the perspective of a young Moroccan woman, while she described her difficulties associated with being immigrant, subsequently reported more positive attitudes both toward her (Studies 1-3) and toward North-African immigrants in general (Studies 2-3); moreover, they expressed stronger intentions to help the needy woman (Study 3) and greater support for prosocial policies aimed at benefiting the whole category of North-African immigrants (Studies 1-3). Mediation analyses indicated that the effects of perspective taking on improved attitudes were primarily mediated by increased empathic concern felt for the target, while the indirect effect on support for prosocial policies passed through self-reported feelings of injustice (Studies 1-2). Importantly, although perspective taking elicited greater sadness and personal distress, these aversive affective states could not account for its effects on prosocial responses (Study 2). In Study 3, perspective taking lead first to higher levels of emotional arousal, which then resulted in increased oneness, which was finally a powerful, proximal predictor of prosocial outcomes. Notably, although perspective taking and empathic concern lead to reduced discrepancy in representations of the self and the other, this cognitive merging was not a significant mediator. Thus, the perception of oneness seemed to reflect care for the target’s welfare and a sense of interconnectedness with the other rather than a merge of identities. Supporting this idea, in Study 4, self-reported empathic concern and felt care for the target’s welfare emerged as strong predictors of prosocial responses, while the perception of oneness based on interpersonal similarity was not.
Author: Lisa Pagotto
Language: English
Subfield: Sociology and Political Science
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
SDG: Reduced inequalities
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W2301017672