What do I Care? Perceived Ingroup Responsibility and Dehumanization as Predictors of Empathy Felt for the Victim Group

By Sabina Čehajić, Rupert Brown, Roberto González. 2009

305 citations recorded by the source corpus.

This research examined the effects of reminders of ingroup responsibility for past wrongdoings on perception of ingroup responsibility and victim dehumanization as predictors of empathy. Two experiments set in different intergroup contexts found that reminders of ingroup responsibility generated empathy through perception of ingroup responsibility and deflected empathy through subtle victim dehumanization. In Experiment 1, set in the context of indigenous—non-indigenous relations in Chile (N = 124), it was found that reminders of ingroup (vs. individual) responsibility generated empathy by increasing a perception of ingroup responsibility and deflected it through decreased attribution of secondary emotions to the victim group. Experiment 2 replicated the effects in a different context, the recent 1992—1995 war in Bosnia (N = 158). Reminders of ingroup responsibility (vs. no reminders) generated empathy by increasing a perception of ingroup responsibility and deflected it through decreased attribution of secondary emotions to the victim group. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.

Subfields: Cognitive Neuroscience, Social Psychology, Sociology and Political Science

View Paper: https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/ad4c3ff1804f53f100c9c0ed4b02e95b6a4ab23c

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Citations in the corpus

Group Emotions: Cutting the Gordian Knots Concerning Terms, Levels of Analysis, and Processes (2015, background): “…A cadem y of M anagem ent A nnals D ow nl oa de d by [ W hu K ob le nz ] at 0 3: 43 2 2 Se pt em be r 20 15 Brown et al. (2008) X Caouette et al. (2012) X Cehajic et al. (2009) X Combs et al. (2009) X Costarelli (2007) X Crisp et al. (2007) X Cwir et al. (2011) X de Vos et al. (2013) X Doosje et…”
Emotions and Emotion Regulation in Intractable Conflict: Studying Emotional Processes Within a Unique Context (2015, background): “This has led to an increased focus on emotions among political psychologists who study intergroup conflicts (e.g., Bar-Tal, 2001; Batson et al., 1997; Čehajić et al., 2009; Cohen-Chen, Halperin, Crisp, et al., 2014; Halperin, 2008, 2011; Halperin & Gross, 2011; Huddy et al., 2005; Lerner et al., 200”
Causes and consequences of mind perception. (2010, background): “Cognition 112, 281–299 67 Waytz, A. et al. (2010) Who sees human? The importance and stability of individual differences in anthropomorphism.”
Dehumanization and infrahumanization. (2014, background): “In related work, Cehajic et al. (2009) showed that dehumanization of a victim group was associated with diminished empathy for them.”
We are human, they are not: Driving forces behind outgroup dehumanisation and the humanisation of the ingroup (2012, background): “Cehajic, Brown, and Gonzalez (2009) conducted studies focusing on the aftermath of the Bosnian war in Bosnia-Herzegovina and on reminders of the atrocities committed against the Mapuche (indigenous group) in Chile.”