Effect of Proximity and Similarity on Empathy

Effect of Proximity and Similarity on Empathy

REFERENCES

SURVEY

By: Kirby Baker

HYPOTHESES

• Participants in this study will not have been exposed to the group that is perceived as different, so they will be less likely to be empathetic.

• The prediction is that participants are not going to have high levels of empathy for the victims in the vignettes who are different from them because of decreased familiarity through the mere exposure effect.

• There will be an interaction between proximity and similarity; Being closer to a tragedy will increase the level of empathy. There will be a big impact on empathy depending on proximity. The victims who are Christian are going to receive increase empathy.

METHOD

• At least 18 years old or enrolled in Introduction to Psychology

• Participants:

• Participants signed up online and were all randomly assigned to one of four conditions

• Total of 60 participants

• There were fifteen participants assigned to each condition.

• Colorado movie theater shooting

• Demographics

• Vignette

MATERIALS

• participants came to the designated room

• Batson, Chang, Orr, and Rowland (2002)
• Zebrowitz, White, and Wieneke, (2008)
• Karacanta (2006)

• 2 x 2 between-subjects factorial design

• Each participant was asked to sit at least one seat away from another

• Each participant received a story at random and individually filled it out

• Each participant was asked to place the survey on the table on their way leaving out

PROCEDURE

• Consent Form

• Survey

• Sikh Temple in Oak Creek

INTRODUCTION

VIGNETTE

Below is a excerpts from four different conditions.

…There was no known connection existing between the shooter, Joe Johnson of Milwaukee, Wisconsin/Toronto, Canada, and The First Christian Church of Waukesha/The First Christian Church of Toronto/the Synagogue of Waukesha, located just 30 miles away from Johnson’s home that he shared with his mother………He first exchanged a few words with Pastor Smith/Rabbi Smith before pulling out his pistol and forever destroyed the peace that had existed in that Church/Synagogue….

*Yellow = near condition

*Red = far condition

*Purple = different religion condition

*Blue = similar religion condition

RESULTS

• There was not a significant main effect of proximity whether tragedies was far or near F(1, 56) = .68, p = .41. Their level of compassion was similar regardless of whether the tragedy was near (M = 34.17, SD = 5.00) or far (M = 33.20, SD = 4.01)

• Summary of Literature

• There was not a significant main effect of religion regardless of the religion of the community religion F(1, 56) =.14, p = .71. Their level of compassion was similar regardless if the religion was Christian (M = 33.90, SD = 4.87) or Jewish (M = 33.40, SD = 4.21)

• There was not a significant interaction between the proximity of tragedy and religion, F(1, 56) =1.49, p = .23. When the victims were Christian their compassion was similar regardless if the tragedy was near (M = 33.67, SD = 5.14) or far (M = 34.13, SD = 4.76). When the victims was Jewish their compassion was similar regardless if the tragedy was near (M = 34.67, SD = 5.00). When the victims was Jewish their compassion was similar regardless if the tragedy was far (M = 32.27, SD = 2.97).

• Purpose

DISCUSSION

• Relationship to Literature

• Practical Implications

• Explain Results

• Theoretical Implications

• Future

• What I learned

• Limitations

Use the scale provided to answer each question by writing a number in the blank.

1 2 3 4 5 6 7

Definitely Not Definitely

1. ________Can you relate to the story in any way?

2. ________Did you feel sad while reading this story?

3. ________Do think things like this happen all the time?

4. ________ Do you think tragedies like this happen in other parts of the world?

5. ________ Does this happen more frequently now than before?

7. ________Would this kind of thing happen again?

8. ________Do you think there obvious pre-signs of this happening?

9. ________Would you be scared?

10.________Do you think the shooter was conscious of the crime he was committing?

11. _______ How sad would you feel for the congregation?

12. _______ Do you think the time and day would make a difference in events?

13._______ Do you think the congregation members should have reacted differently?

14.________Do you think the shooter’s childhood played a role with his decision to commit this crime?

15._________Would this crime be considered worst if the shooter had a partner?

16._________If there was a benefit for the family/church would you be willing to contribute?

17. ________Would you feel any different if the shooter was a different gender?

18. ________ Should the community help with the financial burdens of the family?

19. _________ Did the media play a big role in any way to this situation?

20. _________How severe was this tragic event

CARROLL UNIVERSITY

PSYCH 307

2012

Batson, C. D., Chang, J., Orr, R., & Rowland, J. (2002).

Empathy, attitudes and action: Can feeling for a member of a

stigmatized group motivate one to help the group. Personality

and Social Psychology Bulletin, 28, 1656-1666. doi:

10.1177/014616702237647

Berenguer, J. (2010). The Effect of Empathy in Environmental Moral Reasoning Environment and Behavior. Environment and Behavior. 42, 110-134

CNN wire staff (2012, Oct.13). Colorado Theater shooting suspect faces new charges. CNN.com Retrieved from : CNN.com

Davis, C.M. (1990) What is empathy, and can empathy be taught? Journal of the American Physical Therapy Association, 70,707-711Ferguson, T. J.,

Stegge, H., Miller, E. R., & Olsen, M. E. (1999). Guilt, shame, and symptoms in children. Developmental Psychology, 35, 347-357. doi: 10.1037/0012-1649.35.2.347

Halpern, H. M. (1955). Empathy, similarity, and self-satisfaction. Journal of Consulting Psychology, 19, 449-452. doi: 10.1037/h0043664

Karaçanta, A., & Fitness, J. (2006). Majority support for minority out-groups: The roles of compassion and guilt. Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 36, 2730-2749. doi: 10.1111/j.0021-9029.2006.00125Leslie

A. Zebrowitz, Benjamin White, Kristin Wieneke, Soc Cogn. Author manuscript; available in PMC 2009 July 6.Published in final edited form as: Soc Cogn. 2008; 2, 259–275. doi: 10.1521/soco.2008.26.3.259

Romell, R (2012, Aug.6). 7 Killed including shooter, at Sikh Temple in Oak Creek. Journal Interactive. Retrieved from :http:/www.jsoline.com/news/crime/reportsStearns, D. C., &

Parrott, W. G. (2012). When feeling bad makes you look good: Guilt, shame, and person perception. Cognition and Emotion, 26, 407-430. doi: 10.1080/02699931.2012.675879

DEMOGRAPHICS

Please answer these questions about yourself.

How old are you? _______

Sex (circle):

Male Female Intersex Transgender

Ethnicity (circle any that describe you, feel free to write any additional info):

American Indian____________________ Asian/ Pacific Island__________________________

Black/African American__________________________ Caucasian______________________

Hispanic/Latino______________________ Middle Eastern ________________________

Other_________________________

Marital Status (circle any that describe you)

Single Married Divorced Widowed Separated

Religion (circle any that describe you, feel free to write any additional info):

Christianity____________________ Buddhism__________________________

Islam_______________________ Judaism__________________________

Other_______________________

Year in school (Circle any that describe you):

Freshman Sophomore Junior Senior Graduate School Not Enrolled

Figure 1. Empathy as a function of proximity and similarity. There were no significant effects.