Seeing Us in Them
Social Divisions and the Politics of Group Empathy

Group empathy across lines of difference is a major force for reducing conflict, promoting cooperation, and counteracting ethnonationalism.

Cigdem V. Sirin (Author), Nicholas A. Valentino (Author), José D. Villalobos (Author)

9781108797849, Cambridge University Press

Paperback / softback, published 18 March 2021

300 pages
22.9 x 15.2 x 1.9 cm, 0.503 kg

'The experiments are carefully carried out and demonstrate that group empathy shapes how people think about policies that might help outgroup members in distress. Importantly, while group empathy is a key driver of policy attitudes across the board, members of minority groups are substantially more likely to extend it. Altogether, the authors demonstrate that group empathy matters for public opinion about immigration, humanitarian intervention, civil rights, LGBTQ rights, #BlackLivesMatter, #MeToo, environmental disaster relief, terrorism, welfare, Brexit (in the UK), and foreign aid policies related to the COVID-19 pandemic. Seeing Us in Them shows that empathy for outgroups is a powerful concept that carries the potential for improving our understanding of public opinion broadly.' 2022 Experimental Political Science Section Best Book Award Committee, American Political Science Association

What causes some people to stand in solidarity with those from other races, religions, or nationalities, even when that solidarity does not seem to benefit the individual or their group? Seeing Us in Them examines outgroup empathy as a powerful predisposition in politics that pushes individuals to see past social divisions and work together in complex, multicultural societies. It also reveals racial/ethnic intergroup differences in this predisposition, rooted in early patterns of socialization and collective memory. Outgroup empathy explains why African Americans vehemently oppose the border wall and profiling of Arabs, why Latinos are welcoming of Syrian refugees and support humanitarian assistance, why some white Americans march in support of Black Lives Matter through a pandemic, and even why many British citizens oppose Brexit. Outgroup empathy is not naïve; rather it is a rational and necessary force that helps build trust and maintain stable democratic norms of compromise and reciprocity.

1. The Puzzle: Empathy for Outgroups amid Existential Threats and Ingroup Interests
2. Group Empathy Theory
3. Measuring Group Empathy: The Group Empathy Index
4. An Origin Story: Socializing Group Empathy via Life Experiences
5. Group Empathy and Homeland Security: The Case of Flying While Arab
6. Group Empathy and the Politics of Immigration
7. Group Empathy and Foreign Policy
8. Group Empathy in the Trump Era
9. Group Empathy, Brexit, and Public Opinion in the UK
10. Cultivating Group Empathy and Challenging Ethno-Nationalist Politics.

Subject Areas: Comparative politics [JPB], Social, group or collective psychology [JMH], Sociology [JHB], Ethnic studies [JFSL], History of the Americas [HBJK]