The politics of emotional empathy: Partisanship, trait empathy, and social justice concerns in a representative sample of Californians

Presenter: Andy Martinez

Co-Presenter(s):
Rich Chen, Daniel McCormick, Sophia Micheletti, Kora Robinson

Presenter Status: Faculty

Academic Year: 22-23

Semester: Spring

Faculty Mentor: Andres G. Martinez

Department: Psychology

Funding Source/Sponsor: Koret Scholars Program

President's Strategic Plan Goal: Diversity and Social Justice

Abstract:
In America’s hyper-polarized political landscape (Martherus, Martinez, Piff, & Theodoridis, 2021), is the fundamental problem an “empathy gap” across party lines? An analysis of a representative sample of Californians (N = 875) suggests that the answer is “no.” Although Democrats, Republicans, and Independents differed somewhat in average trait emotional empathy levels, the effect magnitudes were not large. Interestingly, analysis showed that (on average) all political affiliations are characterized by high levels of trait emotional empathy. However, the target of empathy varied by party. Democrats’ and Independents’ empathic tendencies were linked to social justice concerns. In contrast, Republicans’ empathic tendencies were untethered from social justice concerns. These findings provide evidence that—in California and perhaps beyond—emotional empathy is pronounced across the political spectrum; however, the targets of empathy differ by political affiliation. Discussion explores the implications of these findings for political polarization and cooperation across partisan lines.