How Partisanship & Political Ideology Influences Empathy and Tolerance

Decades of previous research suggest that liberals tend to be more empathetic and tolerant than conservatives, with scholars attributing these measurable gaps to the differing core values of each ideology. More recent studies challenge these notions, finding that liberals and conservatives have similar levels of tolerance and empathy when exposed to ideological outgroups. This study sought to find if empathy was a predictor for tolerance by replicating the ideological-conflict hypothesis, which is that both liberals and conservatives share a tendency to be intolerant towards groups they perceive as ideologically opposed. In this study, 177 participants that were 18 years or older from the U.S. responded to items from the Empathy Assessment Index (EAI) to assess participants’ empathy levels. Then, participants were asked to rank from a sample of 10 groups from most-liked to least-liked. Afterward, they were asked how willing they are to allow their least-liked group the right to political participation and other items measuring political tolerance. This study hypothesized that self-identified liberal participants would respond more positively to the empathy related questions than self-identified conservatives and that members from both ideologies will have similar levels of intolerance toward ideological outgroups. Although liberals and conservatives selected least-liked groups that were ideologically dissimilar, the results of this study contrast from previous research in tolerance and empathy. Correlational analyses revealed no partisan difference in responses to the Empathy Assessment Index and liberals were found to be less tolerant than conservatives. Further research is needed in these areas for a more complete understanding of how to capture empathy and tolerance levels as the current political climate may compromise the reliability of these measures.