The Scarecrow and the Tin Man: The Vicissitudes of Human Sympathy and Caring

Loewenstein, George; Small, Deborah A.

doi:10.1037/1089-2680.11.2.112

Cited by 312 publications

(294 citation statements)

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“…The exact conditions under which empathic attitudes towards others and pro-social behavior occur remain to be investigated (cf. Loewenstein/Small 2007). The relationship between experiencing narrative emotions and empathic attitudes and behavior will thus not be as straightforward as this model suggests.…”

Section: Role-taking Modelmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effects of Literature on Empathy and Self-Reflection: A Theoretical-Empirical Framework

Koopman¹,

Hakemulder²

2015

Journal of Literary Theory

158

141

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Various scholars have made claims about literature's potential to evoke empathy and self-reflection, which would eventually lead to more pro-social behavior. But is it indeed the case that a seemingly idle pass-time activity like literary reading can do all that? And if so, how can we explain such an influence? Would the effects be particular to unique literary text qualities or to other aspects that literary texts share with other genres (e. g., narrativity)? Empirical research is necessary to answer these questions. This article presents an overview of empirical studies investigating the relationship between reading and empathy, and reading and selfreflection. We reveal those questions in the research that are not addressed as of yet, and synthesize the available approaches to literary effects. Based on theory as well as empirical work, a multi-factor model of literary reading is constructed.With regard to reading and empathy, the metaphor of the moral laboratory (cf. Hakemulder 2000) comes close to a concise summary of the research and theory. Being absorbed in a narrative can stimulate empathic imagination. Readers go along with the author/narrator in a (fictional) thought-experiment, imagining how it would be to be in the shoes of a particular character, with certain motives, under certain circumstances, meeting with certain events. That would explain why narrativity can result in a broadening of readers' consciousness, in particular so that it encompasses fellow human beings. Fictionality might stimulate readers to consider the narrative they read as a thought experiment, creating distance between them and the events, allowing them to experiment more freely with taking the position of a character different from themselves, also in moral respects. Literary features, like gaps and ambiguous characterization, may stimulate readers to make more mental inferences, thus training their theory of mind. However, apart from literature possibly being able to train basic cognitive ability, we have little indication for the importance of literary imagination over narrative or fictional imagination.Regarding self-reflection, while there is no convincing evidence that literary texts are generally more thought-provoking than non-literary texts (either narrative

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Section: Role-taking Modelmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effects of Literature on Empathy and Self-Reflection: A Theoretical-Empirical Framework

Koopman¹,

Hakemulder²

2015

Journal of Literary Theory

158

141

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Such affective states are at the center of this article, especially that of the spectator and their attempt to emotionally experience the depicted suffering. Proximity, membership in one's in-group, and a sense of perceived similarity are significant in facilitating empathy towards mediated suffering (Loewenstein and Small, 2007). Domestication of distant suffering, by for instance creating a sense of emotional proximity (for example by including someone from the home country into the narrative, see Joye, 2015), is thus an appropriate strategy to incite an affective state of empathy.…”

Section: Empathymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…More specifically, for this study, the concept of care/compassion is subdivided into empathy-which is more related to people's emotional reactions-and sympathy, which is more on the cognitive side of this continuum. However, it is important to acknowledge that these sentiments are neither completely emotionally based nor cognitively reasoned; they are rather a result of a complex and often subconscious interplay between these processes (see also Loewenstein and Small, 2007;Haidt, 2001;von Engelhardt, 2015).…”

Section: To Care or Not To Care; That Is The Questionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Close, but not close enough? Audience’s reactions to domesticated distant suffering in international news coverage

Huiberts

Joye

2017

Media, Culture & Society

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Journalists domesticate news about distant events to bring such events closer to the audience and thus make them more relevant and appealing; however, knowledge about the actual audience's reactions towards domesticated news is lacking. Central to this study is understanding how an audience makes use of domestication strategies in viewing and reacting to mediated distant suffering. Earlier text-based research has found several ways of domesticating distant suffering that can invite an audience to care (Joye, 2015). Building further on this media-centered study, ten focus groups reveal a two-flow model of domestication, consisting of first-level domestication on the production side by journalists and second-level domestication, in which audience members themselves use strategies of domestication to make sense of distant suffering.

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“…Indeed there are many studies showing this (e.g. see Loewenstein and Small 2007 for a review). In fact, empathy and sympathy to people you see as enemies or opponents are very diffi cult.…”

Section: Compassionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Representative Decision-Making: Challenges to Democratic Peace Theory

Çuhadar

Druckman

2014

Handbook of International Negotiation

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It has become only too evident that traditional methods of confl ict prevention and resolution are no longer adequate or effective. This is why editor and contributor Mauro Galluccio's present volume appears to fi ll in an existing and ever more visible void in shaping an entirely new approach in modern-day diplomacy. The signifi cance of this book can hardly be over-rated. It offers an entirely new political and psychological angle to transforming confl ict by managing interpersonal dynamics and tailoring preventive behaviors. It alerts us to the crucial role of the mental heritage of confl icts and powerful emotions. In brief, it enhances an entirely new type of negotiation as a fundamental tool of managing, preventing, and resolving confl ict by acknowledging the diversity of mental viewpoints about any given reality.This volume can indeed serve as a handbook to practitioners-diplomats and decision-makers-in educating themselves, in reshaping their own outlook, and in even bettering themselves as individuals in positions of authority and responsibility for bringing positive change to the lives of millions of people. Elena Poptodorova Ambassador of Bulgaria to the United StatesGalluccio has brought together a distinguished and diverse group of scholars and practitioners to address an enduring, if evolving, challenge to human wellbeing: violent confl ict between nations and subnational groups. His aim is to organize the interdisciplinary character of the research, on which the authors draw, into coherent perspectives on the causes of confl icts and potentially effective interventions designed to prevent and resolve them.There is much that is new here. Perhaps most important, there is a focus on the personal and emotional character of confl ict-for those who engage in it and those who intervene to mitigate it. The passion, competence, and intensity that Galluccio brings to this edited volume is striking and appropriate, in light of the importance of the topic to those who have been or will be victims of violent confl ict, but at no point does it detract from the intellectual rigor that characterizes the entire volume. Robert L. Gallucci US Ambassador-at-Large Past President of the MacArthur Foundation Former US Assistant Secretary of StateThis timely volume and the work of Dr. Mauro Galluccio on international negotiation and mediation is extremely relevant in the current climate of confl ict throughout the world and the potential perils that presently exist among nations. This collection of essays by renowned scholars, foreign policy experts, offi cials, psychologists, and other practitioners, ably assembled and edited by Dr. Mauro Galluccio, is so very welcome. This handbook highlights the complexity, and diffi culty, of international negotiations. Fortunately, it also provides important and useful tools for those responsible for conducting diplomacy with terrorists and insurgents. It is sure to be widely read, cited, and used as a valuable reference work for years to come. Mitchell Reiss President of the Colon...

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The Scarecrow and the Tin Man: The Vicissitudes of Human Sympathy and Caring

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Cited by 312 publications

References 55 publications

Effects of Literature on Empathy and Self-Reflection: A Theoretical-Empirical Framework

Effects of Literature on Empathy and Self-Reflection: A Theoretical-Empirical Framework

Close, but not close enough? Audience’s reactions to domesticated distant suffering in international news coverage

Representative Decision-Making: Challenges to Democratic Peace Theory

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