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Social class, contextualism, and empathic accuracy.
Michael W Kraus1, Stéphane Côté, Dacher Keltner
1University of California, San Francisco, 3333 California St., Suite 465, San Francisco, CA 94143, USA. michael.kraus@ucsf.edu
Psychological Science
|October 27, 2010
Summary
Individuals from lower social classes demonstrate superior empathic accuracy, likely due to their focus on external environmental factors when explaining outcomes. This enhanced social perception may influence well-being and relationships.
Area of Science:
- Social Psychology
- Socioeconomic Status
- Emotional Intelligence
Background:
- Lower-class individuals tend to attribute personal and political outcomes to external environmental factors.
- Previous research indicates a link between attributional style and social cognition.
Purpose of the Study:
- To test the hypothesis that lower social class is associated with greater empathic accuracy.
- To explore the mediating role of external attributions in the relationship between social class and empathy.
Main Methods:
- Three studies were conducted comparing lower-class and upper-class individuals.
- Methods included standardized empathic accuracy tests, behavioral emotion judgment tasks, and emotion inference from facial cues (eyes).
Main Results:
- Lower-class individuals consistently scored higher on empathic accuracy across all three studies.
- The tendency to explain events via external factors mediated the link between social class and empathic accuracy.
Conclusions:
- Social class significantly influences empathic accuracy.
- External attributional tendencies in lower-class individuals contribute to their enhanced ability to understand others' emotions.
- Findings suggest implications for social well-being and interpersonal relationship dynamics.
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