The Relationship Between Social Empathy and Attitudes about the Poor's Dependence on Government Assistance Programs

Background and Purpose

Previous research has shown that empathic insight is linked to greater acceptance and understanding of others. Class, race and gender differences have been bridged through interventions that promote empathy.  Applying empathic insight on a broader level through social empathy can expand such understanding for larger social issues.  Social empathy, application of empathic insight to better understand social, economic, and political experiences of others, is key to developing social welfare programs and policies that advance social and economic justice.   Poverty, particularly the experience of being poor in this country, is a social concern that would benefit by being addressed from a social empathy perspective.  To better understand how social empathy may impact views on poverty, this study explored the relationship between social empathy and support for poverty-related social programs among college students.  It was hypothesized that social empathy would be a significant predictor of attitudes about the poor’s dependence on government assistance programs.

Methods

Students enrolled in introduction to social work courses at two urban U.S. universities - in the southwest and mid-Atlantic - participated in an online survey in fall 2015. The sample included 184 students; was predominantly white (n=91) and Latino/a (n=48), and female (n=149); and ranged in age from 18 to 65. Approximately 43% (n=79) reported growing up in families of origin that were poor or working class. The survey included the Social Empathy Index (40 items), self-rated political thinking on a 5-point scale from “consistently liberal” to “consistently conservative”, and self-rated positions on nine policy issues related to social and economic justice (4-point scale) including “Poor people have become too dependent on government assistance programs.”

Results

To test the predictive value of social empathy on attitudes towards the poor, multiple regression analysis was conducted with attitude about the poor’s dependence upon government assistance programs as the dependent variable. Political thinking, interpersonal empathy, and the components of social empathy were included as independent variables. Controls were added for age and class background of family of origin. In the model, 27% of the variance in attitudes about the poor’s dependence upon government assistance was explained (R²=.30, adjusted R²=.27, F = 11.37 (6, 165), p < .01). Contextual understanding, a component of social empathy, was the only predictor that (β=.60, t (165) = 5.23, p < .01) significantly contributed to the model individually.

Findings support the hypothesis that social empathy, and more specifically contextual understanding, is significantly associated with attitudes about the poor’s dependence on government assistance programs among college students.

Conclusion and Implications

Social empathy includes two components: the ability to understand historical and current context of social conditions, and being able to take the perspective of others from difference social, economic, and political groups.  In this study with introductory social work students, higher social empathy scores were associated with attitudes that were more supportive of social programs to aid the poor. 

These findings suggest that enhancing social empathy is one way to increase support for social welfare programs and policies that advance economic justice.