I Totally Empathize With You ... Sometimes: Effects Of Empathy On Ethnic Group Interactions
Wednesday, February 18, 2009 - 21:21
in Psychology & Sociology
A new study reveals that empathy for minority groups has a much less positive effect when it is triggered in the context of an actual intergroup interaction situation than it does when directed toward minority group members in the abstract. The researchers surmise that empathy has a negative effect during interactions with members of the minority group because the empathetic individuals become preoccupied with how they will be viewed by that minority group.