Empathy constrained: Prejudice predicts reduced mental simulation of actions during observation of outgroups

This research summary can be incorporated into a lecture or shared with students as a reading to demonstrate how psychological science explores the diversity of human experience. This resource can also be used to encourage students to identify the major components of a research study (i.e., the hypothesis or study question, sample, method, and findings). Students can be asked to identify potential limitations of the study and encouraged to discuss the implications for our understanding of human behavior. Keywords highlight how concepts within and across pillars are incorporated into a single research study.

Mirror neurons typically respond in the same way when we perform a task ourselves as when we watch someone else perform that same task (e.g., brush our hair, eat using a spoon, etc.). This research group hypothesized that this type of activation may happen when people are watching others who have the same racialized identity. To test this hypothesis, the researchers had participants watch a series of videos while they were hooked up to an EEG machine that recorded their brain responses. The study participants, who were all White, watched videos of men of several different races, including White, Black, South Asian, and East Asian pick up a glass of water and take a drink. This study’s findings revealed that participants’ motor cortex was much less active when the participants watched a Black, South Asian, or East Asian person engage in the task than when watching a White man. These findings suggest that our brain reacts differently when we watch someone of our race versus a person of another race. In other words, at a neurological level, we are more likely to put ourselves in the shoes of – and feel empathy for – someone of our own race. On a practical level, this data suggests we need to develop strategies for increasing perspective-taking (and empathy) in order to reduce prejudice and bias.

Gutsell, J. N., & Inzlicht, M. (2010). Empathy constrained: Prejudice predicts reduced mental simulation of actions during observation of outgroups. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 46(5), 841–845. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jesp.2010.03.011opens in new window

Race, Biological, Neuroscience, Central Nervous System Social, Bias

The development of resources to broaden diversity and representation in the teaching of high school psychology resources is an APA Committee of Teachers of Psychology in Secondary Schools initiative supported by funding from the American Psychological Foundation David and Carol Myers Fund. This resource was developed by Eric Castro, Shawn C.T. Jones, PhD, Allyn Olsen, and Catherine Sanderson, PhD.