Hearing and Understanding the Other Side – Experimental Evidence on the Role of Empathy in Citizen Deliberation

We analyze the role of empathy in citizen deliberation. Our analysis is based on a population based experiment on citizen deliberation about immigration policies. It was designed to examine the effects of so-called enclave deliberation. The crux of the experiment was to use random assignment to like-minded and mixed groups, whereas allocation to pro and con enclaves was based on participants’ opinions. Participants in like-minded groups were all either tolerant or intolerant of immigration, whereas mixed groups consisted of both views. We use survey data to analyze participants’ opinions and attitudes before and after deliberation. We ask whether deliberation can enhance empathy towards out-groups, and whether empathy is connected to willingness to deliberate by comparing levels of empathy among participants with volunteers who dropped out. We also study how empathy is connected to opinion change and willingness to contribute to charity.