Predictors of out-group empathy among majority and minority children in a conflict-affected society

Abstract

We examined the predictors of out-group empathy in children growing up in a city devastated during the fall of the Former Yugoslavia. Children (N = 155; 76 male, 79 female) from both majority (64.5% Croatian) and minority (35.5% Serbian) ethnic groups, ranging from 6 to 11 years old (M = 8.77, SD = 1.15) participated. A multiple-group path analysis in Mplus found that age, general empathy, quality contact and perceived intergroup conflict related to higher out-group empathy. There were no significant links from gender, quantity contact or out-group friends to out-group empathy. The findings were consistent across majority and minority ethnic groups. Implications are discussed.