Empathic Concern and Perspective-Taking Have Opposite Effects on Affective Polarization

Bibliographic Data

ID6435266
AuthorsMatthijs Gillissen (0000-0003-4378-2156), Matthijs Rooduijn (0000-0001-5880-4819), G Schumacher (0000-0002-6503-4514)
Year2024
Volume12
Issue2
Pages218-236
Publication date2024-12-16
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueJournal of Experimental Political Science (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 2052-2630 • E-ISSN: 2052-2649
PublisherCambridge University Press (CUP) (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1017/xps.2024.17
OpenAlexW4405418001
LanguageEN
References cited15

Empathy has been proposed as a solution to alleviate interparty antipathy. Recent findings from the US suggest that one aspect of empathy – empathic concern – increases rather than decreases affective polarization. Perspective-taking, another aspect of empathy, has no effect on affective polarization. In this article, we describe a preregistered replication and extension of these findings in the contrasting political context of the Netherlands, to see whether this relationship generalizes beyond the US. First, using a cross-sectional nationally representative sample of 1,258 Dutch voters, we show that empathic concern indeed fuels affective polarization while at the same time we find that perspective-taking reduces it. Second, using a two-arm survey experiment (n = 438), we show that perspective-taking reduces ingroup bias, whereas empathic concern does not. Reflecting on the American and Dutch findings, we conclude that while empathic concern likely contributes to affective polarization, perspective-taking may reduce it

Antipathy · Cognitive psychology · Empathic concern · Empathy · Perspective (graphical · Perspective-taking · Polarization (electrochemistry · Political science · Politics · Computer Science · Electoral Systems and Political Participation · Psychology · Social and Cultural Dynamics · Social and Intergroup Psychology · Social Psychology

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