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Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin
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Empathy-Motivated Helping: The Moderating Role of Group Membership

Stefan Stürmer

Christian-Albrechts-Universität zu Kiel

Mark Snyder

University of Minnesota

Alexandra Kropp

Birte Siem

Christian-Albrechts-Universität zu Kiel

In this article, the authors present two laboratory experiments testing a group-level perspective on the role of empathy in helping. Experiment 1 tested the authors' predictions in an intercultural context of helping. Confirming their specific Empathy x Group Membership moderation hypothesis, empathy had a stronger effect on helping intentions when the helper and the target belonged to the same cultural group than when they belonged to different groups. Experiment 2 replicated these findings in a modified minimal group paradigm using laboratory-created groups. Moreover, this second experiment also provides evidence for the hypothesized psychological mechanisms underlying the empathy-(ingroup) helping relationship. Specifically, analyses in the ingroup condition confirmed that the strength of the empathy-(ingroup) helping relationship systematically varied as a function of perceived similarities among ingroup members. The general implications of these findings for empathy-motivated helping are discussed.

Key Words: empathy • helping • altruism • group-level similarities • group-level perspective

Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, Vol. 32, No. 7, 943-956 (2006)
DOI: 10.1177/0146167206287363
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