Using performance art to promote intergroup prosociality by cultivating the belief that empathy is unlimited

Empathy is important for resolving intergroup conflicts, yet people often feel less empathy toward outgroup members. The authors propose that this bias is driven in part by the belief that empathy is a limited resource. They develop an intervention synthesizing psychology and performance art to increase the belief that empathy is unlimited. Across six studies (n = 2118), stronger beliefs that empathy is limited predict lower outgroup empathy. Experimentally leading people to view empathy as unlimited increases outgroup empathy, support for prosocial actions toward outgroup members, and empathic behaviors during face-to-face intergroup interactions. Effects generalize across ethnic, national, religious, and political contexts, suggesting that changing beliefs about empathy can improve intergroup relations and that art can effectively convey this belief to promote social change.

Yossi Hasson, Einat Amir, Danit Sobol-Sarag, Maya Tamir, Eran Halperin