RAPID: Empathy and Social Welfare

Suny At Stony Brook, Stony Brook NY

Investigators

Abstract

Governments are frequently asked to provide humanitarian assistance to people who are victims of natural disasters, civil wars, ethnic conflict, poverty, and violence. Public opinion can be a major factor in the willingness of politicians to use public funds for this purpose. This project examines how people respond to the needs of those who are victims of humanitarian crises. One major factor that has not been adequately studied is empathy - the ability to understand and feel what others experience emotionally. Research in psychology has shown that people differ in their ability to empathize and this should affect how they respond in these situations. But sympathy for those in need can conflict with other beliefs and values like limited government and belief in legal procedures. This project uses the situation brought about by the large number of children from Central America arriving at the U.S. border to study the ways in which empathy and values influence responses to humanitarian crises. Different news stories about the situation are used to alter the values that people apply to the problem and determine how this changes the impact of empathy on their opinions. This research will shed light on the factors that influence people's attitudes toward those in need in a number of political situations. How the public responds to people in need is an important factor in many domains of politics. In this research project the focus is on the dynamics of opinion formation in cases of humanitarian crises. A novel theoretical framework involving the interaction between individual differences in empathy and the frames used by politicians, the media, and religious leaders to shape public opinion and influence government policy is developed and tested. The consequences of individual differences in empathy for public opinion have not been adequately explored in political science. A measure developed in the study of Autism Spectrum Disorder, the "Reading the Mind in the Eyes Test," will be used to measure individual differences in empathic ability. The researchers then draw on a modern version of cognitive dissonance theory to specify the conditions under which empathy may conflict with other values and political principles. Such dissonance can result in people high in empathy not feeling compassion for people in need but, instead, bolstering these conflicting principles and values. Using a media framing experiment that activates different values and principles, the investigators explore how empathic ability affects reactions to the Central American children who have been coming to the U.S. seeking refugee status. The study will demonstrate the utility of the proposed theoretical framework for understanding more broadly the impact of empathy on public support for a range of programs designed to assist those in need.