The effects of income inequality, group status and event valence on empathic evaluations

In addition to the negative economic effects of income inequality, social effects are inevitable. Empathy can serve as a guide for better understanding these social effects. Therefore, this study aimed to examine the impact of income inequality on empathic evaluations. First, positive and negative events were piloted to measure empathic evaluations. Then, the actual study was conducted to examine the effect of income inequality on empathic evaluations. In this experimental study, the research design was 2 (Income level: high-income condition and low-income condition) x 2 (Group status: ingroup and outgroup) x 2 (Event valence: negative event and positive event). First, participants underwent the low income and high-income manipulation, and then empathic evaluations were measured and finally they completed the Social Dominance Orientation scale. Repeated Measures ANOVA was used to analyze the study. As a result of the study, positive events towards the outgroup were evaluated more negatively, while negative events were evaluated more positively. This difference was observed more strongly in participants in the low-income condition. In other words, counter-empathic evaluations towards the outgroup were found to be higher when the participants were in the disadvantaged group.