The effect of adultification on empathy for Black individuals
Abstract
Empathy is fundamental in our interpersonal and prosocial interactions, as it allows us to share and understand others’ experiences vicariously. Cameron et al. (2019) assessed the cognitive perspective-taking facets of empathy and found that when attempting to empathize with someone, it can be seen as effortful or difficult and this can lead to greater empathy avoidance. The present study examined whether the motivation for empathy with Black girls would be lower than for Black boys, men, and women because adultification of Black girls. Adultification refers to the stereotype of how adults perceive children as less innocent and more adult-like (Epstein, Blake, & González, 2017), which might lead society to see these young women as needing less help or support. We tested this by asking 147 White Penn State students to complete the Empathy Selection Task (Cameron et al. 2019), which asks participants to select between empathizing with or describing Black target individuals varying in age and gender (boys, men, girls, and women). The findings showed that Black girl and boy targets engendered more empathy approach in comparison to Black men and women. However, it was Black women that engendered the least empathy across the four targets, contrary to our hypothesis. We discuss the possibility of the strong Black woman stereotype as a potential driver of this phenomenon.
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