RAPID: Empathy and Social Welfare

各国政府经常被要求向自然灾害、内战、种族冲突、贫困和暴力的受害者提供人道主义援助。公众舆论可能是政治家是否愿意为此目的使用公共资金的一个主要因素。该项目研究人们如何应对人道主义危机受害者的需求。一个尚未得到充分研究的主要因素是同理心-理解和感受他人情感体验的能力。心理学研究表明，人们的同情能力不同，这应该会影响他们在这些情况下的反应。但是，对那些需要帮助的人的同情可能与其他信仰和价值观相冲突，比如有限政府和对法律的程序的信仰。该项目利用大量来自中美洲的儿童抵达美国边境所带来的情况，研究同情心和价值观影响人道主义危机反应的方式。关于这种情况的不同新闻故事被用来改变人们应用于问题的价值观，并确定这如何改变同理心对他们意见的影响。通过本研究，可以了解在各种政治场合下，影响人们对需要帮助的人的态度的因素。在政治的许多领域，公众对需要帮助的人的反应是一个重要的因素。在这个研究项目中，重点是在人道主义危机情况下舆论形成的动态。一个新的理论框架，涉及同情的个体差异和政治家，媒体和宗教领袖所使用的框架，以塑造公众舆论和影响政府政策之间的相互作用的开发和测试。在政治学中，对公众舆论的同情心的个体差异的后果还没有得到充分的探讨。在自闭症谱系障碍的研究中开发的一种测量方法，“阅读眼睛中的心灵测试”，将被用来测量移情能力的个体差异。然后，研究人员利用现代版本的认知失调理论来具体说明共情可能与其他价值观和政治原则发生冲突的条件。这种不和谐可能导致同情心高的人对需要帮助的人没有同情心，而是支持这些相互冲突的原则和价值观。使用激活不同价值观和原则的媒体框架实验，研究人员探讨了移情能力如何影响对来美国寻求难民身份的中美洲儿童的反应。这项研究将展示所提出的理论框架的效用，更广泛地理解移情对公众支持的一系列旨在帮助有需要的人的计划的影响。

Governments are frequently asked to provide humanitarian assistance to people who are victims of natural disasters, civil wars, ethnic conflict, poverty, and violence. Public opinion can be a major factor in the willingness of politicians to use public funds for this purpose. This project examines how people respond to the needs of those who are victims of humanitarian crises. One major factor that has not been adequately studied is empathy - the ability to understand and feel what others experience emotionally. Research in psychology has shown that people differ in their ability to empathize and this should affect how they respond in these situations. But sympathy for those in need can conflict with other beliefs and values like limited government and belief in legal procedures. This project uses the situation brought about by the large number of children from Central America arriving at the U.S. border to study the ways in which empathy and values influence responses to humanitarian crises. Different news stories about the situation are used to alter the values that people apply to the problem and determine how this changes the impact of empathy on their opinions. This research will shed light on the factors that influence people's attitudes toward those in need in a number of political situations.How the public responds to people in need is an important factor in many domains of politics. In this research project the focus is on the dynamics of opinion formation in cases of humanitarian crises. A novel theoretical framework involving the interaction between individual differences in empathy and the frames used by politicians, the media, and religious leaders to shape public opinion and influence government policy is developed and tested. The consequences of individual differences in empathy for public opinion have not been adequately explored in political science. A measure developed in the study of Autism Spectrum Disorder, the "Reading the Mind in the Eyes Test," will be used to measure individual differences in empathic ability. The researchers then draw on a modern version of cognitive dissonance theory to specify the conditions under which empathy may conflict with other values and political principles. Such dissonance can result in people high in empathy not feeling compassion for people in need but, instead, bolstering these conflicting principles and values. Using a media framing experiment that activates different values and principles, the investigators explore how empathic ability affects reactions to the Central American children who have been coming to the U.S. seeking refugee status. The study will demonstrate the utility of the proposed theoretical framework for understanding more broadly the impact of empathy on public support for a range of programs designed to assist those in need.