S/PS/124. Effect of social identity on empathy and attitudes, and the interaction between empathy and attitudes towards a stigmatised group

The paper examines the effect of social identity on empathy and attitudes, giving definitions of empathy, arguing that socially stigmatised groups are sometimes discriminated against, and reviewing related academic literature. A study is conducted to analyse young people's perceptions of the elderly testing whether the activation of a social identity would affect the levels of empathy towards the elderly.