Group Empathy in Response to the COVID-19 Pandemic

• In Event: Emotions and Political Psychology

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic upended the world, causing massive loss of life and socio-economic devastation. In this study, we present empirical evidence from a national survey conducted in March 2020 on the role empathy for outgroups plays in reactions to the pandemic. Group empathy is the leading predictor of support for coronavirus-related foreign aid, above and beyond partisanship, ideology, feelings about whites versus blacks, political news exposure, and other key factors. As a discriminant validity check, we also analyzed the effect of group empathy on concern about oneself or a family member getting ill with the coronavirus disease. The results corroborate that the effect of group empathy we observe on support for coronavirus relief to foreign nations is not a product of concern about the COVID-19 pandemic getting worse elsewhere and eventually coming back to infect the respondents themselves. It is about concern for others. Further consistent with our theory, the association between group empathy and support for coronavirus-related foreign aid is much stronger among nonwhites as compared to whites. We conclude with a discussion about the power of empathy to improve intergroup relations in the post–COVID-19 world.

Authors

• Cigdem V. Sirin, University of Texas, El Paso

• Nicholas A. Valentino, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor

• Jose D. Villalobos, University of Texas at El Paso