| Creators: |
Khalid, Afreen S. and Dickert, Stephan |
| Title: |
Empathy at the Gates: Reassessing its Role in Moral Decision Making |
| Item Type: |
Article or issue of a publication series |
| Journal or Series Title: |
Frontiers in Psychology |
| Paper No. / Type of Paper: |
/ Opinion Paper |
| Article: |
800752 |
| Additional Information: |
Open Access |
| Date: |
27 January 2022 |
| Divisions: |
Wirtschaftswissenschaften |
| Abstract (ENG): |
Introduction:
A plethora of research conducted in the past decades has shown that empathy can be essential in guiding and motivating prosocial behavior (e.g., Batson et al., 1981; Eisenberg and Miller, 1987; Batson, 2011; Dickert et al., 2011; Erlandsson et al., 2015). However, there is still considerable debate around whether empathy-driven altruism does more harm than good. For example, several parochial biases have been linked to empathy (Bloom, 2016), such as a preference for helping in-group over out-group members (Cikara and Fiske, 2012) and identifiable over statistical victims (Small and Loewenstein, 2003; Kogut and Ritov, 2005). In response to the limited and scope-insensitive empathic responses to large numbers of victims (Slovic, 2007; Västfjäll et al., 2014), suggestions have been put forward that moral decisions should be guided by rational compassion rather than empathy (Bloom, 2016).
In this article, we attempt to clarify some main points of confusion in the discourse surrounding the merits and pitfalls of empathy. In doing so, we also lay out several possible directions for future research. |
| Forthcoming: |
No |
| Language: |
English |
| Link eMedia: |
Download |
| Citation: |
Khalid, Afreen S. and Dickert, Stephan
(2022)
Empathy at the Gates: Reassessing its Role in Moral Decision Making.
Frontiers in Psychology, 13, Art.: 800752, Paper / Opinion Paper.
ISSN 1664-1078
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