Manipulation of Intergroup Relationships does not reduce Racial Bias in Empathetic Neural Responses

Abstract

Event Abstract Back to Event Manipulation of Intergroup Relationships does not reduce Racial Bias in Empathetic Neural Responses Emily R. Hielscher1*, Luis S. Contreras1 and Ross Cunnington1 1 Queensland Brain Institute, Australia When we observe someone in pain, it activates neural structures that are involved in the direct experience of pain. Recent ERP studies (Sheng & Han, 2012) have investigated the racial bias of empathy in response to perceived pain amongst a Chinese population. Findings have demonstrated an automatic, empathetic neural response to observed pain experienced by same-race subjects. There is uncertainty as to whether this is due to racial effects or just a general in-group bias. The present study aimed to further elucidate this by investigating the time-course of empathetic neural responses when intergroup relationships were manipulated. Using the minimal group paradigm, a sample of Caucasian Australians were assigned to one of two mixed race (Asian, Caucasian) groups. Participants were asked to judge in-group and out-group faces as either painful or not; faces were exposed to a painful (syringe) or non-painful (q-tip) stimuli. The results identified a significant racial bias at early ERP components including N1, where painful stimuli elicited a negative shift relative to non-painful stimuli in response to Caucasian faces only. Additionally, strong racial effects were found at N170 and VPP. A long latency empathic response was found at P3 where there was significant differentiation between painful and non-painful stimuli, regardless of race or group. There was no evidence that empathy-related brain activity was modulated by intergroup manipulation. The results support a model of empathy for pain which consists of early, automatic identification for same race and a late top-down cognitive evaluation. The neuroscience of empathy is important for furthering our understanding of the ‘hidden brain’, that our unconscious mind may be more biased than we would like to believe. References Sheng, F., & Han, S. (2012). Manipulations of cognitive strategies and intergroup relationships reduce the racial bias in empathic neural responses. NeuroImage, 61, 786-797. Keywords: Empathy, ERP, Pain, Racial Bias, Intergroup Manipulation Conference: ACNS-2012 Australasian Cognitive Neuroscience Conference, Brisbane, Australia, 29 Nov - 2 Dec, 2012. Presentation Type: Poster Presentation Topic: Emotion and Social Citation: Hielscher ER, Contreras LS and Cunnington R (2012). Manipulation of Intergroup Relationships does not reduce Racial Bias in Empathetic Neural Responses. Conference Abstract: ACNS-2012 Australasian Cognitive Neuroscience Conference. doi: 10.3389/conf.fnhum.2012.208.00044 Copyright: The abstracts in this collection have not been subject to any Frontiers peer review or checks, and are not endorsed by Frontiers. They are made available through the Frontiers publishing platform as a service to conference organizers and presenters. The copyright in the individual abstracts is owned by the author of each abstract or his/her employer unless otherwise stated. Each abstract, as well as the collection of abstracts, are published under a Creative Commons CC-BY 4.0 (attribution) licence (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) and may thus be reproduced, translated, adapted and be the subject of derivative works provided the authors and Frontiers are attributed. For Frontiers’ terms and conditions please see https://www.frontiersin.org/legal/terms-and-conditions. Received: 14 Oct 2012; Published Online: 07 Nov 2012. * Correspondence: Ms. Emily R Hielscher, Queensland Brain Institute, Brisbane, Australia, e.hielscher@qcmhr.uq.edu.au Login Required This action requires you to be registered with Frontiers and logged in. To register or login click here. Abstract Info Abstract The Authors in Frontiers Emily R Hielscher Luis S Contreras Ross Cunnington Google Emily R Hielscher Luis S Contreras Ross Cunnington Google Scholar Emily R Hielscher Luis S Contreras Ross Cunnington PubMed Emily R Hielscher Luis S Contreras Ross Cunnington Related Article in Frontiers Google Scholar PubMed Abstract Close Back to top Javascript is disabled. Please enable Javascript in your browser settings in order to see all the content on this page.