Empathy and the collective good: Caring for one of the others in a social dilemma.
Abstract
We predicted that feeling empathy for another member of the collective in a social dilemma would create an altruistic desire to allocate resources to that person as an individual, reducing collective good. To test this prediction, 2 studies were run. In each, participants faced a dilemma in which they could choose to benefit themselves, the group, or other group members as individuals. In Study 1, empathy for another group member was manipulated; in Study 2, naturally occurring empathic response was determined by self-report. In both studies, participants who experienced high empathy allocated more resources to the target of empathy, reducing the overall collective good. These results suggest the importance of considering self-interest, collective interest, and other-interest (altruism) as three distinct motives, each of which may operate in social dilemmas
Cite this
C. Daniel Batson, Judy G. Batson, R. Matthew Todd, Beverly H. Brummett, Laura L. Shaw, Carlo M. R. Aldeguer (1995). Empathy and the collective good: Caring for one of the others in a social dilemma.. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. https://doi.org/10.1037//0022-3514.68.4.619
@article{daniel1995empathy,
title = {Empathy and the collective good: Caring for one of the others in a social dilemma.},
author = {Batson, C. Daniel and Batson, Judy G. and Todd, R. Matthew and Brummett, Beverly H. and Shaw, Laura L. and Aldeguer, Carlo M. R.},
year = {1995},
journal = {Journal of Personality and Social Psychology},
doi = {10.1037//0022-3514.68.4.619}
}Citations in this library
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