Specifying the relation of empathy and prosocial tendencies: Examining the physiological state of the helper and the role of emotional experiences of targets in need

• Applicant: Dr. Claudia Sassenrath
• Subject Area: Social Psychology, Industrial and Organisational Psychology
• Term: from 2016 to 2021
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 321135581

The present project addresses two innovative ideas regarding the well-documented beneficial effect of empathy on helping behavior (sometimes labeled as the empathy-altruism hypothesis; e.g., Batson et al., 1988; Batson, Chang, Orr, & Rowland, 2002; see Batson & Shaw, 1991 for an overview). Specifically, it is tested whether empathy with a person in need (i.e., the target) only leads to increased prosocial behavior (i.e., helping behavior) if the target expresses sadness in face of the need-causing event and not another negative emotion such as, for example, anger. Beyond that, the project will address an underlying mechanism of the empathy-helping association that has not been considered so far: the affective-motivational state of the helper assessed with psychophysiological measurements (impedance cardiography). Thereby, this project, for the first time, examines a so far neglected but likely boundary condition of the empathy-helping association: the emotional experience expressed by the target in need. Moreover, applying the biopsychosocial model of challenge and threat (Blascovich & Tomaka, 1996) to the field of empathy allows for an online assessment of helpers current affective-motivational state while processing information about a target in need. This represents a methodological advancement given that so far, helpers affective states has been assessed mainly via self-reports (e.g. Batson et al., 1988; Cialdini, et al., 1987), which are prone to biases in introspection and demand characteristics (Nisbett & Wilson, 1977; Orne, 1962). Using impedance cardiography not only addresses these methodological shortcomings. It also contributes to an ongoing debate regarding the underlying determinants of empathy-induced helping, namely whether it is truly altruistically determined or whether it is egoistically determined by the wish to reduce a negative affective state in the helper. Specifically, the current project examines whether potential helpers empathizing with a sad target experience this as challenge (and not as threat) which in turn fosters helping the target in need. Helpers should see themselves as disposing of more resources to cope with the situational demands than the sad needy target because helpers are usually not affected by the situation in the same way as the target (i.e. they do not require help as the target does). Moreover, emotions experienced by a target in need inform potential helpers about how the target estimates his or her coping potential in the situation (cf. Frijda, 1986; Frijda, Kuipers, & Ter Schure, 1989): Sadness implies not having enough resources to cope with a situation whereas anger implies being able to cope with the situation. Furthermore, active helping behavior more likely results from challenge than from threat which is related to inhibitory tendencies (e.g., Pérez-Edgar, et al., 2010).

• DFG Programme: Research Grants
• International Connection: Netherlands
• Co-Investigators: Professor Dr. Johannes Keller; Dr. Stefan Pfattheicher
• Cooperation Partners: Professor Dr. Kai Sassenberg; Dr. Daan Scheepers