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You might think that a little more empathy would help to heal the divisions in US politics, but it could actually worsen the situation by increasing polarisation.

Elizabeth Simas at the University of Houston, Texas, and her colleagues surveyed 1000 people in the US. The team found that those with a disposition for 鈥渆mpathic concern鈥�, one of several traits that make up general empathy, seem to be more politically polarised. They hold a more favourable opinion of their own preferred party, whether Republican or Democrat, along with a more unfavourable opinion of the opposing one.

To explore this further, Simas surveyed around 1200 students, randomly splitting them into two groups. Each participant was shown a different version of an article about a protest on a university campus. The article told the story of a public event with either a Democrat or a Republican speaker, which is halted by protests from the other side. When the police try to move in, a bystander is struck by a protester.

In a series of questions afterwards, students with low empathic concern took the same view on whether the speech should have been stopped, irrespective of the speaker鈥檚 party. Students who were more empathic, however, were happier to censor speakers they disagreed with. They did care more overall about the bystander鈥檚 welfare, but that concern showed a partisan bias too, being less sympathetic if the bystander wanted to hear a speaker from the side the student disagreed with.

鈥淚t鈥檚 like an emotional contagion to a certain degree,鈥� says Simas. 鈥淚鈥檓 sharing the pain with somebody I connect with, so I don鈥檛 like the cause of the pain鈥� We鈥檙e certainly not claiming that empathy is horrible and bad. Our presentation is saying, 鈥楲ook, this is a complex thing鈥�.鈥�

鈥淢oral emotions evolved to help us navigate a world where tribal solidarity likely offered a huge advantage in survival. Thus, it makes good sense that empathy might be in-group oriented,鈥� says Eric Groenendyk at the University of Memphis, Tennessee.