Social class affects neural empathic responses

Abstract

The present study tested whether socioeconomic status (SES) was linked to differences in the strength of neural empathic responses. Following previous research we measured fronto-central P2 responses to images of neutral faces and faces expressing pain. As predicted we found that higher SES was linked to diminished neural empathic responses. Interestingly, higher SES was positively correlated with self-reported trait empathy, suggesting that those higher in status may not realize that they are actually lower in empathy. Implications and future directions for research on empathy, altruism, and prosocial behavior are discussed.