More Than One Way to Become One: Specifying the Relationship Between Perspective Taking, Self-Other Merging, and Prosocial Outcomes

Previous research has documented a variety of positive consequences of perspective taking, such as increased helping and decreased prejudice. However, few studies have investigated the social-cognitive mechanisms that underlie this process. Although recent research has suggested self-other merging as an important mediator, empirical support has been mixed and disagreements persist regarding the precise relationship between perspective taking, self-other merging, and prosocial outcomes. The current research proposes that self-other merging should be understood as a bidirectional construct: self-directed merging, which indicates the degree to which the perception of self becomes more "other-like," and other-directed merging, which indicates the degree to which perception of the other becomes more "self-like." Three studies were designed to support this thesis.;Study 1 (N = 215) manipulated perspective taking using a writing task, and found that perspective taking increased other-directed merging, but not self-directed merging toward a positively stereotyped target (i.e. college professor). Study 2 (N = 216) replicated Study 1, and similarly found that other-directed merging, but not self-directed merging increased toward a negatively stereotyped target (i.e. Black American). Additionally, whereas self-directed merging is associated with more positive automatic evaluation of the target, other-directed merging correlated with an increase of automatic racial bias. Finally, participants in Study 3 ( N = 117) took the perspective of a target in a needy situation, and found an increase in self-directed merging among participants who imagined their own hypothetical thoughts and feelings as if they were in target's situation. Furthermore, self-directed merging, but not other-directed merging, mediated the increased donation toward a relevant charity. The results across three studies support the novel re-conceptualization of self-other merging as a bidirectional construct. Theoretical implications for the perspective taking, intergroup bias, and prosocial helping literatures are provided in the discussion.