The Effects Of Positive Empathy And Perspective-taking On The Elderly Stereotype Of College Students

With the gradual improvement of medical and health services,people's life expectancy has been increasing.The elderly have become an important group in society,which has aroused wide concern.Empathy can promote the helping behavior and improve interpersonal relationship.Perspective taking is the primary element of the empathy.It also plays an important role in the interpersonal relationship.But is there an emerging field of empathy-positive empathy,whether it also has some role in interpersonal relationships?Can it affect the stereotype of the elderly?This study was conducted in the hope of further enriching the study of empathy and stereotyping of the elderly.In study 1,to explore the relationship between positive empathy,perspective taking and explicit elderly stereotype.A questionnaire survey was conducted to collect the valid data of 487 college students,and the results showed that positive empathy and perspective-taking were significantly negatively correlated with the explicit elderly stereotype.And,the perspective taking is partly mediated by the influence of trait positive empathy and explicit elderly stereotype.In study 2a,to explore the relationship between positive empathy,perspective taking and implicit elderly stereotype.The design was 2(trait positive empathy:high group,low group)x2(perspective taking:experimental group,control group)between the subjects design.The results showed that in the implicit elderly stereotype,the interaction between trait positive empathy and perspective-taking was significant.And further analysis found that perspective taking was more apparent in the low level of positive empathy.In study 2b,to explore the relationship between state positive empathy and implicit elderly stereotype.The design was 2 level(state positive empathy,state negative empathy)single factor.The result showed that compared with state negative empathy,state positive empathy was more likely to affect implicit elderly stereotype of college students.In conclusion:(1)Trait positive empathy,perspective-taking both can effectively influence the explicit elderly stereotype,and perspective-taking played a partial mediating role.(2)The positive empathy and perspective-taking can effectively influence the implicit elderly stereotype,and in the low level positive empathy,perspective-taking was more apparent.(3)Compared with the state negative empathy,positive empathy can effectively affect the elderly stereotype.