#65 I see you

I see you

“Why don’t people care?”

I’m sure this question has crossed your mind at some point, whether in response to devastating conflicts or other crises affecting the communities we serve.

Unfortunately, as explained by Psychology Professor Mina Cikara in this podcast, parochial empathy – the tendency to feel more empathy for "in-group" members than for those outside the group  – is common.  We instinctively empathize more with people who share our background, religion, political views, or even personal interests.

While overcoming parochial empathy is hard, a promising approach emerged from a series of three experiments in the US. The researchers found that participants expressed greater empathy for out-group members after reading short narrative descriptions that humanized them.

Importantly, these narratives focused on the out-group member’s internal world – such as their personalities, thoughts, and hopes – rather than their physical traits. These passages helped participants focus more on the human being, rather than their group.