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Abstract
Media presentations that attempt to improve intergroup relations often portray stigmatized group members in a sympathetic light in order to induce empathy. Emotion priming research suggests that induced empathy may not only affect reactions to those portrayed, but also to a wide range of secondary others. In order to test this possible secondary or transfer effect, the present study assessed whether empathy induced by a video of a boy with cancer could also increase caring for an unrelated stigmatized group member. Although the video was not found to have a direct effect, it did have a significant indirect effect on caring for the stigmatized group member, mediated by concern for the boy. In addition, this indirect effect was also moderated by both age and gender.
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[1] Moderation analyses indicated that among the demographic variables, age moderated the effect of the emotional video on EFB (b = .247, t(91) = 3.582, p = .001, 95% CI = .109, .384) and that gender moderated the effect of EFB on ECS (b = .585, t(92) = 2.032, p = .045, 95% CI = .013, 1.157). Tests of the simple slopes indicated that the emotional video increased EFB among mean age, t(91) = 2.187, b = .386, p = .031, 95% CI = .035, .7372, and older (i.e., +1 SD) participants, t(91) = 3.84, b = .954, p = .000, 95% CI = .460, 1.447, but not among younger (i.e., −1 SD) participants, t(91) = .803, b = –.181, p = .424, 95% CI = –.629, .267. Similarly, EFB was found to increase ECS among male, t(92) = 3.175, b = .787, p = .002, 95% CI = .295, 1.289, but not among female participants, t(92) = .803, b = .202, p = .172, 95% CI = –.089, .493.