Perspective taking instructions and self-other overlap: Different motives for helping

In two studies (N’s = 57 and 115), we demonstrate that type of perspective-taking instruction (“imagine self” vs. “imagine other”) differentially affects two motives for helping: self-other overlap and empathic concern. Imagine-self instructions produce greater self-other overlap than imagine-target...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inMotivation and emotion Vol. 38; no. 2; pp. 224 - 234
Main Authors Myers, Michael W., Laurent, Sean M., Hodges, Sara D.
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Boston Springer US 01.04.2014
Springer Nature B.V
Subjects
Behavioral Science and Psychology
Clinical Psychology
Emotions
Empathy
Original Paper
Personality and Social Psychology
Perspective taking
Psychology
Stereotypes
Self-other overlap
Helping
Perspective taking
Instructions
Empathy
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Summary:In two studies (N’s = 57 and 115), we demonstrate that type of perspective-taking instruction (“imagine self” vs. “imagine other”) differentially affects two motives for helping: self-other overlap and empathic concern. Imagine-self instructions produce greater self-other overlap than imagine-target and objective instructions, while both types of perspective-taking instruction promote empathic concern relative to an objective condition. In Study 2, imagine-self instructions indirectly increased the likelihood of helping via empathic concern and self-other overlap, while imagine-target instructions led indirectly to greater helping only through empathic concern. We discuss how different perspective-taking instructions may implicate different emotional and motivational paths to increasing helping.
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ISSN:0146-7239
1573-6644
DOI:10.1007/s11031-013-9377-y