Article
Publication Date
January 2017
Journal/Book Title/Conference
Political Psychology
Abstract
Recent scholarship has discovered significant racial/ethnic group variation in response to political threats suchas immigration and terrorism. Surprisingly, minority groups often simultaneously perceive themselves to be atgreater risk from such threats and yet still prefer more open immigration policies and civil libertiesprotections. We suggest a group-level empathy process may explain this puzzle: Due to their higher levels ofempathy for other disadvantaged groups, many minority group members support protections for others evenwhen their own interests are threatened. Little is known, however, about the unique properties of groupempathy or its role in policy opinion formation. In this study, we examine the reliability and validity of our newmeasure of group empathy, the Group Empathy Index (GEI), demonstrating that it is distinct from other socialand political predispositions such as ethnocentrism, social dominance orientation, authoritarianism, ideology,and partisanship. We then propose a theory about the development of group empathy in reaction to lifeexperiences based on one’s race/ethnicity, gender, age, and education. Finally, we examine the power of groupempathy to predict policy attitudes and political behavior.