Empathy - sharing and understanding of others' emotions - serves as a social "glue" that produces generosity, strengthens social ties, and reduces prejudice. Despite its importance, empathy is also fragile, and often breaks down just when it is needed most. This is especially true in interactions between different social groups. People often dismiss the opinions of individuals with whom they disagree, fail to engage with the emotions of outgroup members, and avoid others' suffering. Empathic breakdowns have severe and wide-ranging consequences: producing polarizing ideological stalemates, fomenting conflict, and driving bullying in schools. Empathy is often considered a relatively stable characteristic that is not amenable to change. In contrast, Jamil Zaki (Stanford University) and colleagues have developed a novel theoretical approach, which proposes that empathy is a motivated process; thus, it could be modified by shifting the motives that may drive one towards or away from engaging in empathetic responses. This project will test two theoretical approaches that could shift motivational processes and "expand" individuals' empathy, especially in challenging intergroup situations.
This research leverages two social psychological concepts - mindsets and social influence - to shift empathetic responses. Mindsets describe people's beliefs about psychological phenomena such as intelligence and personality. Whereas some people believe these characteristics are stable and unchangeable (so-called "fixed mindsets"), others believe these phenomena are malleable and under their control ("growth mindsets"). This project will test whether encouraging a growth mindset of empathy will cause shifts in motivation to engage in empathetic responses. The second concept, social influence, draws on findings that people are motivated to change their behavior, beliefs, and opinions to match those of others; therefore, providing a norm that others value empathy could consequently promote empathetic responses. This project will measure the effects of shifting mindsets and social norms on (i) individuals' ability to understand others' emotions, (ii) their willingness to take the perspective of people who differ from them, and (iii) the strength and diversity of their social relationships. Additionally, the research will test whether motivational shifts towards empathetic responses increase generous behaviors and decrease bullying among high school students. Overall, this work stands to make key advances both in the basic science of empathy and in how this science can be applied to critical social settings. With respect to basic science, this work will improve understanding of the process and mechanism through which empathy can be expanded, and also test a novel theory of empathy as a motivated process. With respect to application, this work can help to remedy some of the harmful consequences of empathic breakdowns including intergroup discrimination, bullying, and selfishness in the context of charitable giving.
