Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jun 1, 2026

Multimodal Protocol for Assessing Metacognition and Self-Regulation in Adults with Learning Difficulties
Published on: September 27, 2020
On reducing an empathy gap: the impact of self-construal and order of judgment
Karl-Andrew Woltin1, Vincent Y Yzerbyt, Olivier Corneille
1Université catholique de Louvain, Belgium Fonds de la Recherche Scientifique, Belgium. karl-andrew.woltin@uclouvain.be
Abstract:
Empathy gaps, in which individuals exaggerate self-other similarities or differences, generate errors in social judgments. We investigated whether changing individuals' self-construal may reduce one specific empathy gap: the illusion of courage. Participants primed with independent or interdependent self-construal made judgments about their own and other people's willingness to dance in public. Participants in the interdependence condition showed a reduction of the empathy gap, but only when judging the other first. This finding highlights that simple contextual manipulations have the potential to reduce egocentric biases in social judgments.
More Related Videos
Related Concept Videos
Empathy
Self-Discrepancy Theory
Self-Discrepancy and Its Effects
Introspection
The Sense of Self: Reflected Self-Appraisal and Social Comparison
Sources of Self-Esteem III: Social Comparison

