Substitute Dish blogger Zoe Pollock called out a newly released Northwestern study (via Wired Science) that found cleanliness to be next to judgmentalness in several experimental environments. Undergraduates who cleaned their hands or recited prepared marks about their own high degree of cleanliness made much harsher remarks about the morality of common social issues like adultery or smoking.
Researcher Chen-Bo Zhong noted that,
Acts of cleanliness have not only the potential to shift our moral pendulum to a more virtuous self, but also license harsher moral judgment of others.
Previous studies have found empathy levels to vary on the basis of shared social groups, whether by some recognizable trait like race or arbitrary assigned clustering of research subjects. Thus, are unconscious prejudices a barrier to resolving major social failings like homelessness?
Even though 2 people may have more in common than not, once those differences are pointed out, how do we keep empathy from waning?
At a recent Netroots Nation session, one presenter discussed the development of campaign ads to promote health care reform legislation in the South. The most successful ad placed persons that could be self-identified with at the start of the ad before moving on to other racial groups, because the realization that reform could affect “me” enabled the viewer to connect with more marginalized groups that would more greatly benefit from health care reform.
A greater impetus for social change may come when we’re better able to draw clear parallels between the lives of those in the greatest need and those with the means to make a difference.
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