We analyzed how empathy affects rational decision-making during a conflict situation. The study collected empirical evidence from eighty volunteers who participated in a laboratory experiment where Palacio et al.’s (2015) 2x2 Conflict Game, as well as Davis’s Interpersonal Reactivity Index (IRI) were used to measure empathy and rational choice. Volunteers were divided into four groups, two of which played with the same person, while
the other two played with a random partner. The study found that dimensions of empathy can both increase and decrease rational choice, with no single effect. Interestingly, the study also found that proximity to empathic situations promotes altruistic behavior.
The results were correlated using a Generalized Linear Model. Overall, this study provides important insights into how empathy can influence decision-making during conflict, which has implications for fields such as psychology and economics.
Arenas, L. , Rangel, H., Aguilar, A. C. & Garcia, L. A. P. (2021). Validación en español del Índice de Reactividad Interpersonal--IRI-en estudiantes universitarios colombianos. Psychology, Society & Education, 13(3), 121-135. https://doi.org/10.25115/psye.v13i3.3307
Aumann, R. (1976). Agreeing to Disagree. The Annals of Statistics. 4, 1236-1239. 10.1214/aos/1176343654
Bandura, A. (1991). Social Cognitive Theory of Moral Thought and Action. Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Publishers Hillsdale.
Batson, C. D., Ahmad, N., Yin, J., Bedell, S. J., Johnson, J. W., Templin, C. M. & Whiteside, A. (1999). Two Threats to the Common Good: Self-Interested Egoism and Empathy-Induced Altruism. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 25(1), 3-16. https://doi.org/10.1177/0146167299025001001
Binmore, K. (1990). Essays on the Foundations of Game Theory. Blackwell.
Binmore, K. (1994). Playing Fair. Game Theory and the Social Contract. MIT Press.
Bowles, S. & Gintis, H. (2003). The Origin of Human Cooperation. The Genetic and Cultural Origins of Cooperation. MIT Press. https://doi.org/10.7551/mitpress/3232.003.0024
Buchanan, J. & Gordon, T. (1980). El cálculo del consenso. Espasa Calpe.
Castro, J., Rangel, H. & Vargas, A. (2020). Una revisión económica de la teoría de la elección racional: El aporte de Jon Elster. En Investigaciones económicas: integración económica, racionalidad, responsabilidad social, mercados, costos y medioambiente (pp. 59-96). Ediciones USTA. https://repository.usta.edu.co/handle/11634/35119
Calvet Christian, R. & Alm, J. (2014). Empathy, Sympathy, And Tax Compliance. Journal of Economic Psychology, 40, 62-82. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.joep.2012.10.001
Cecconello, A., & Koller, S. (2000). Competência social e empatia: um estudo sobre resiliência com crianças em situação de pobreza. Journal of Economic Psychology, 5(1), 71-93. https://doi.org/10.1590/S1413-294X2000000100005
Davis, M. H. (1980). A Multidimensional Approach to Individual Differences in Empathy. JSAS Catalog of Selected Documents in Psychology, 10(85).
Davis, M. H. (1983). Measuring individual Differences in Empathy: Evidence For a Multidimensional Approach. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 44(1), 113-126. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.44.1.113
Downs, A. (1957). An Economic Theory of Democracy. Aguilar.
Eisenberg, N. (2000). Emotion, Regulation, and Moral Development. Annual Review of Psychology, 51, 665-697. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev.psych.51.1.665
Eisenberg, N., Fabes, R. A., Guthrie, I. K. & Reiser, M. (2000). Dispositional Emotionality and Regulation: Their Role in Predicting Quality of Social Functioning. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 78(1), 136. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.78.1.136
Elster, J. (1977). Ulysses and the Sirens: A Theory of Imperfect Rationality. Social Science Information, 16(5), 469-526. https://doi.org/10.1177/053901847701600501
Elster, J. (1983). Sour Grapes. Cambridge University Press. https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9781139171694
Fischbacher, U. (2007). z-Tree: Zurich Toolbox for Ready-Made Economic Experiments. Experimental Economics, 10, 171-178. 10.1007/s10683-006-9159-4
Fontaine, P. (1997). Identification and Economic Behavior Sympathy and Empathy in Historical Perspective. Economics and Philosophy, 13(2), 261-280. https://doi.org/10.1017/S026626710000451X
Garcia-Barrera, M. A., Karr, J. E., Trujillo-Orrego, N., Trujillo-Orrego, S. & Pineda, D. A. (2017). Evaluating Empathy in Colombian Ex-Combatants: Examination of the Internal Structure of the Interpersonal Reactivity Index (IRI) in Spanish. Psychological Assessment, 29(1), 116-122. https://doi.org/10.1037/pas0000331
Gilar, R., Miñano, P. & Castejón, J. (2008). Inteligencia emocional y empatía: su influencia en la competencia social en educación secundaria obligatoria. SUMMA Psicológica UST, 5(1), 21-32. https://doi.org/10.18774/448x.2008.5.218
Grohn, J., Huck, S. & Valasek, J. M. (2014). A Note on Empathy in Games. Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization, 108, 383-388. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jebo.2014.01.008
Güth, W., Schmittberger, R. & Schwarze, B. (1982). An Experimental Analysis of Ultimatum Bargaining. Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization, 3(4), 367-388. https://doi.org/10.1016/0167-2681(82)90011-7
Hoffman, E., McCabe, K. & Smith, V. L. (1999). Social Distance and Other-Regarding Behavior in Dictator Games: Reply. En American Economic Review, 89(1), 340-341. https://doi.org/10.1257/aer.89.1.340
Homans, G. (1961). Social Behavior: Its Elementary Forms. Harcourt, Brace and World.
Howes, C., Matheson, C. C. & Hamilton, C. E. (1994). Maternal, Teacher, and Child Care History Correlates of Children’s Relationships with Peers. Child Development, 65(1), 264-273. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-8624.1994.tb00749.x
Junttila, N., Voeten, M., Kaukiainen, A. & Vauras, M. (2006). Multisource Assessment of Children’s Social Competence. Educational and Psychological Measurement, 66(5), 874-895. https://doi.org/10.1177/0013164405285546
Kerem, E., Fishman, N. & Josselson, R. (2001). The Experience of Empathy in Everyday Relationships: Cognitive and Affective Elements. Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, 18(5), 709-729. https://doi.org/10.1177/0265407501185008
Kirman, A. & Teschl, M. (2010). Selfish or Selfless? The Role of Empathy in Economics. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 365(1538), 303-317. https://doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2009.0192
Lerner, J. S., Li, Y., Valdesolo, P. & Kassam, K. S. (2015). Emotion and Decision Making. Annual Review of Psychology, 66, 799-823. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-psych-010213-115043
Li, C. H. (2016a). Confirmatory Factor Analysis With Ordinal Data: Comparing Robust Maximum Likelihood And Diagonally Weighted Least Squares. Behavior Research Methods, 48(3), 936-949. https://doi.org/10.3758/s13428-015-0619-7
Li, C. H. (2016b). The Performance of ML, DWLS, and ULS Estimation with Robust Corrections in Structural Equation Models with Ordinal Variables. Psychological Methods, 21(3), 369-387. https://doi.org/10.1037/met0000093
Mestre, V. & Paula, S. (2002). Procesos cognitivos y emocionales predictores de la conducta prosocial y agresiva: la empatía como factor modulador. Psicothema, 14(2), 227-232.
National Commission for the Protection of Human Subjects of Biomedical and Behavioral Research. (1978). The Belmont Report: Ethical Principles and Guidelines for the Protection of Human Subjects of Research. The Commission.
Neumann, J. von, & Morgenstern, O. (2004). Theory of Games and Economic Behavior. Princeton University Press.
Palacio, L., Cortés, A. & Muñoz-Herrera, M. (2015). The Strategic Role of Nonbinding Communication. Journal of Applied Mathematics, 1-5. https://doi.org/10.1155/2015/910614
Rodrigues, J., Ulrich, N. & Hewig, J. (2015). A Neural Signature of Fairness in Altruism: A Game of Theta? Social Neuroscience, 10(2), 192-205. https://doi.org/10.1080/17470919.2014.977401
Salehi-Abari, A., Boutilier, C. & Larson, K. (2019). Empathetic Decision Making in Social Networks. Artificial Intelligence, 275, 174-203. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.artint.2019.05.004
Singer, T., Fehr, E., Laibson, D., Camerer, C. F. & McCabe, K. (2005). The Neuroeconomics of Mind Reading and Empathy. American Economic Review, 95(2), 340-345. https://doi.org/10.1257/000282805774670103
Singer, T., Kiebel, S. J., Winston, J. S., Dolan, R. J. & Frith, C. D. (2004). Brain Responses to the Acquired Moral Status of Faces. Neuron, 41(4), 653-662. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0896-6273(04)00014-5
Smith, A, (1984). Investigación sobre la naturaleza y causa de la riqueza de las naciones. Fondo de Cultura Económica.
Smith, A. (2004). Teoría de los sentimientos morales (M. Soler, ed.). Fondo de Cultura Económica.