Quarterly Journal of Economics · 2026 · Marianne Andries、Leonardo Bursztyn、Thomas Chaney、Milena Djourelova、Alex Imas
中文摘要
我们探讨了共情的作用机制。我们表明，当关于外群体的信息与模拟其困境的体验结合呈现时，能够激活并放大共情。这种反应增加了援助困境群体的意愿。我们在一项沉浸式虚拟现实实验中为该效应提供了证据，在实验中参与者（旁观者）体验了对无证移民（主角）困境的模拟，随后在一系列受控实验室实验中复现了这些结果。我们表明，当信息增加了其感知的人际相似性，或与主角的关联度时，信息会增强旁观者的共情反应，并促使他们做出更多亲社会行为——我们将此效应追溯至注意力：眼动追踪数据显示，提供信息使旁观者的目光集中于主角的困境，而非搜寻场景的边缘元素。反之，只有强化了感知关联度的信息包——该效应在不同属性的子群体间可能存在差异——才能放大共情。综合而言，我们的证据表明，设身处地理解他人或他群体的能力，可以通过简单的、有针对性的信息提供来激活共情从而得到增强。
Abstract
Abstract We explore the mechanics of empathy. We show that information about an outgroup can activate and magnify empathy when presented in conjunction with an experience simulating their struggles. This response increases the willingness to help the struggling group. We provide evidence for this effect in an immersive virtual reality experiment where participants (witnesses) experience a simulation of the struggle of unauthorized migrants (protagonists), then replicate these results in a series of controlled lab experiments. We show that information enhances the witnesses’ empathetic response and drives them to engage in more prosocial behavior when it increases their perceived interpersonal similarity, or relatability to the protagonist—an effect we trace to attention: eye-tracking data reveal that information provision concentrates witnesses’ gaze on the struggles of the protagonist instead of searching through peripheral elements of the scene. Conversely, only information packages that strengthen perceived relatability—an effect that can vary across subgroups with heterogeneous attributes—magnify empathy. Together, our evidence suggests that the ability to put oneself in the shoes of another person or group can be enhanced by activating empathy through simple, targeted, information provision.