Stevens Samantha M, Jago Carl P, Jasko Katarzyna, Heyman Gail D
The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, USA.
University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, USA.
Pers Soc Psychol Bull. 2021 Oct;47(10):1452-1465. doi: 10.1177/0146167220972245. Epub 2020 Dec 7.
The current highly polarized U.S. political culture impedes people's ability to live and work together effectively. Here we examine one factor that may play a role: selective empathy based on shared political ideology. Across seven studies ( = 3,476), participants read about a hypothetical politician and his political ideology, trustworthiness, or both. Participants reported their empathy for the politician after learning he was fined (Studies 1-6) or injured (Study 7). When trustworthiness alone was manipulated, liberals and conservatives expressed similar levels of empathy, with greater empathy for the more trustworthy politician. However, when the politician's ideology alone was manipulated, participants reported greater empathy for the politician who shared their ideology. When trustworthiness and ideology were manipulated, selective empathy was observed when the politician was trustworthy. Participant ideology alone had little effect on empathy. The results suggest that empathy is sensitive to both trustworthiness and ideological match, but not ideology itself.
当前高度两极分化的美国政治文化阻碍了人们有效共同生活和工作的能力。在此，我们研究一个可能起作用的因素：基于共同政治意识形态的选择性共情。在七项研究（N = 3476）中，参与者阅读了一位假设的政治家及其政治意识形态、可信度或两者的相关内容。在得知这位政治家被罚款（研究1 - 6）或受伤（研究7）后，参与者报告了他们对这位政治家的共情程度。当仅操控可信度时，自由派和保守派表达了相似程度的共情，对更值得信赖的政治家共情程度更高。然而，当仅操控政治家的意识形态时，参与者对与自己意识形态相同的政治家报告了更高的共情。当可信度和意识形态都被操控时，在政治家值得信赖的情况下观察到了选择性共情。仅参与者的意识形态对共情影响很小。结果表明，共情对可信度和意识形态匹配都敏感，但对意识形态本身不敏感。
