Rhetoric of Truthfulness in the Battle Between Social Attributions and Empathic Emotions

Abstract

Theoretical background. Understanding what motivates adults to improve social relations has captivated the interest of a number of scholars in different fields, including philosophers, psychologists, and anthropologists. In this framework the study of empathy, which is considered a complex, multifaceted experience and one of the most intriguing phenomena in social life, has recently become relevant also in the analysis of both positive and negative intergroup relations.

Empathic emotions have received much theoretical and empirical attention in recent decades, mostly because of their contributions to reducing social aggression and their ability to promote conflict resolution, social inclusion, and solidarity (Genç and Kalafat 2008). Empathy is considered an essential component of the motivation to engage in prosocial behaviors (Einlof 2008; Stephan and Finlay, 1999) and to reduce aggression (Bandura 1999; Fesbach 1989; Rehber 2007). Moreover, some researchers have recently found that empathy is also significantly related to conflict management (LeBlanc et al. 2012; Wied et al. 2007).

Although the literature has greatly contributed to our understanding of the relationship between empathy and social relations, and researchers have no doubts that the feeling of empathic emotions for another person may compel people to trigger better relationships and reduce conflicts (see, for example, Batson 1991; Batson et al., 1997b; Davis et al., 1996), what remains a matter of some controversy, however, is the reason why this relation exists.

The idea that people’s affective responses to a person are shaped by the attributions they make regarding the person’s plight, for example, found great empirical support (Batson et al. 1997; Weiner 1980; Weiner 1995). However, in which direction this relationship develops, it still has to be explored. Empathy, for example, may represent or not a response to a story, and empathic reactions may depend on the kind of inferences this story can elicit.

Aims and method. The present research partially fills this research gap by providing answers to the questions regarding whether and how empathic emotions are affected by social attribution processes. In particular, for the first time, the roles of empathy, truthfulness, social desirability, and emotional impact on positive intergroup attitudes were simultaneously analyzed. To this end, participants’ (N = 66) empathy, their perceived social desirability of the empathic answer, together with the story’s emotional impact and perceived truthfulness were measured following the reading of a short fictional story.

Data analyses and results. To verify whether attribution processes and social desirability simultaneously affect both directly and indirectly the empathic reaction toward another person, structural equation modeling (SEM) was employed (Bollen 1989). According to our findings, perceived truthfulness influences the emotional impact of a story, which causes social desirability. In turn, social desirability results as the direct predictor of empathy.

Conclusions. In sum, the empathic response appears as the output of manifold and complex phenomena: it requires innate capacities and social competences; it is the result of a complex interlacing of cognitive and affective factors, but also the outcome of a battle between so-called “social constructions”, modulated by values and beliefs shared in a certain culture and collectivity. Because of its polyphonic nature, empathy may help persons in conflict to overcome the enunciative arrest in which they are trapped.