Minding the Gap: Narrative Descriptions about Mental States Attenuate Parochial Empathy.
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ABSTRACT:
SUBMITTER: Bruneau EG
PROVIDER: S-EPMC4624695 | biostudies-literature | 2015
REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature
Publications
Minding the Gap: Narrative Descriptions about Mental States Attenuate Parochial Empathy.
Bruneau Emile G EG Cikara Mina M Saxe Rebecca R
PloS one 20151027 10
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 ...[more]
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