“So Many People are Struggling”: Developing Social Empathy Through a Poverty Simulation

Abstract

This article reports on the use of a poverty simulation with a sample of students from a large public university in the Southeast. To better understand whether participation in a poverty simulation influences attitudes and fosters social empathy for people in poverty, a pre- and postquestionnaire and a reflection paper were used. Quantitative analysis suggests that the simulation fostered more understanding of the conditions contributing to poverty. Qualitative analysis indicates that students gained greater depth of understanding and empathy about the lived experience of poverty. Together, the results suggest the poverty simulation develops a more nuanced understanding of poverty.

Keywords:

• poverty simulation
• social empathy
• opinions about poverty
• teaching about poverty

Acknowledgments

The authors express their appreciation to the following: Sharon S. Gibson, graduate students, faculty in the Department of Housing and Consumer Economics, and members of the Athens, Georgia, community who facilitated the poverty simulations; Khadija Hill for her assistance reading the reflection papers and developing the classification of themes; and three anonymous reviewers who provided substantive and helpful comments.