Sympathy as knowledge of the other in need: An investigation into the roles of need for closure and the moral foundations on sympathy toward immigrants

Abstract

Although sympathy is a powerful other-focused motivation, not all individuals will experience sympathy when it is appropriate. Immigrants, as a disadvantaged outgroup, are especially in need of sympathy and, given the tensions of the immigration debate, are at-risk for low sympathy. Indeed, past research has found that sympathy is less likely to be experienced toward disliked out-groups. In the current research, we investigated the role of need for closure (NFC), or the general desire for epistemic certainty, on the experience of sympathy toward immigrants in Italy, a nation where the immigration debate is becoming increasingly fractious. Consistent with past research on the roles of NFC and the binding moral foundations (i.e., a concern for the well-being of groups) on prejudice toward out-groups, we propose that individuals with a high NFC, and who endorsed the binding moral foundations (i.e., a concern for the well-being of groups), would be particularly likely to have decreased sympathy toward immigrants in Italy. In line with past research and our hypotheses, in three studies we found that the binding foundations mediated the NFC effect on decreased sympathy toward immigrants in Italy. Conceptually, these individuals can strongly adopt traditional cultural norms as a way to acquire stable knowledge; this can make sympathy toward immigrants less likely, as they both stand outside "traditional" morality, as well can threaten the stability of natives' knowledge. | 241 BALDNER Et AL.

The Moral Foundations of Desired Cultural Tightness

“…Indeed, some cultures may prioritize respect for the rights and equality of individuals (individualizing focus) while others may prioritize the strengthening of groups and institutions, binding individuals into duties, roles, and mutual obligations (binding focus; Haidt and Joseph, 2007 ; Haidt, 2008 ; Graham et al, 2009 ). Accordingly, conservative norms and standards are present to a greater or lesser extent in cultures (see also Baldner et al, 2020 ). We therefore might expect the binding concerns to be prevalent in tight systems and elicit support for that cultural system (see Gelfand, 2018 ; see also Atari et al, 2020 , for an investigation of country-level sex differences in moral judgments in relation to cultural looseness).…”

“…The binding foundations uphold conservative values by preserving the integrity of social groups and structures through obedience to hierarchy and conformity to traditions (authority), fidelity and duties toward one’s group (loyalty), and respect for God, natural laws, and constraints for baser instincts (purity; Haidt and Graham, 2007 ). Consistently, the endorsement of binding foundations has been shown to prompt more conservative attitudes on various ideological and social issues, such as abortion, same-sex marriage, immigration, and crime, among others (e.g., Koleva et al, 2012 ; Silver and Silver, 2017 ; Baldner et al, 2020 ).…”

The mediating role of national identification, binding foundations and perceived threat on the relationship between need for cognitive closure and prejudice against migrants in Malta

“…The Revised Need for Cognitive Closure scale: ( Rev NfCS , Pierro & Kruglanski, 2005). This 14‐item scale measures NCC as a unitary construct trait (e.g., Baldner, Di Santo, Talamo, & Pierro, 2020; Pica, Bélanger, Pantaleo, Pierro, & Kruglanski, 2016). The participants were asked to rate the extent by which they agreed with statements on a 6‐point scale ranging from 1 (strongly disagree) to 6 (strongly agree) (ex: “When I find myself facing various potentially valid alternatives; I decide in favour of one of them quickly and without hesitation”; “I prefer activities where it is always clear what is to be done and how it needs to be done”).…”

Multivariate morphological brain signatures enable individualized prediction of dispositional need for closure

“…The current results on the link between DM module and NFC are in line with previous findings that NFC plays a key role in social cognitive processes, including perspective-taking, empathy and interpersonal communications (Flynn et al, 2010 ). For instance, individuals with higher NFC are less likely to accept a dissimilar target’s response as appropriate and report less empathic concerns for the target (Baldner et al, 2020 ; Nelson et al, 2003 ). In addition, people high in NFC compared with those low in NFC spend less amount of effort to search for common ground during interpersonal communication, resulting in excessive biases in the direction of their own perspectives (Richter & Kruglanski, 1999 ).…”

“…These findings implicate the influence of NFC on valuation processes, such as the intolerance of uncertainty (Berenbaum et al, 2008 ). Last, NFC has been associated with reduced perspective taking and empathetic concern toward dissimilar others (Baldner et al, 2020 ; Sparkman & Blanchar, 2017 ). For instance, people high in NFC compared to those low in NFC are more likely to exhibit egocentric biases in a representative role (Stark & Milyavsky, 2019 ).…”