The Association Between Racial Privilege and Ethnocultural Empathy

Racial minorities living in U.S. society hold fewer privileges in day-to-day life than those in the racial majority. Some propose that the shared experience of a lack of racial privilege among minorities may promote increased empathy for people of other ethnicities and cultures, although there is a lack of evidence demonstrating this empirically. In this study, we examine the intersection of racial privilege and ethnocultural empathy in a diverse sample ( N = 404) of U.S. residents recruited using Amazon’s Mechanical Turk. Results indicated statistically significant differences in racial privilege and ethnocultural empathy between racial groups such that White participants had higher levels of racial privilege than racial minority participants and lower levels of ethnocultural empathy than Black participants. Results further suggested that the difference in ethnocultural empathy between White and Black participants remained even after racial privilege was controlled for statistically. These results integrate and advance research on the intersection between racial privilege on ethnocultural empathy.

THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN ETHNOCULTURAL EMPATHY AND ORGANIZATIONAL CITIZENSHIP BEHAVIOR (OCB) AMONG PUBLIC SERVANTS IN SABAH

Organizational citizenship behavior (OCB) throughout literature provides evidence that benefits both employees and the organizations in terms of increasing the level of employees' well-being, work satisfaction, customers' satisfaction as well as the quality of work performance. Hence, it is important to understand the possible reasons behind the occurrence of OCB to increase the likelihood of employees engaging in OCB. Based on the prosocial motivational concept, empathy is the main motivator to helping behaviors thus open up the possibility of linkage between empathy and extra-role behaviors such as OCB. Moreover, this linkage is important for public employees especially those who are working in organizations that have multi-ethnic employees as well as providing services to meet vast societal needs and demands. The present article set out to examine the relationship between ethnocultural empathy and OCB among public employees in Sabah. A cross-sectional survey was used to gather a response of 213 public employees who are working in the Jabatan Pendaftaran Negara Negeri Sabah (JPN) based on the selected districts in Sabah. Results showed positive relationships between organizational citizenship behavior-individual (OCBI) with empathic awareness (EA) dimensions. Results also showed positive relationships between organizational citizenship behavior-organization (OCBO) with empathic feeling and emotion (EFE). By focusing on the aspect of culture in empathy such as ethnocultural empathy can help researchers to understand how culture influences the cognition and emotions of individuals to understand other people's experiences especially those who have a different cultural and ethnic background. Apart from that, the concept itself strengthens the ability to understand the thinking and feeling of others in their cultural context thus increases the likelihood to perform extra-role behavior such as OCB.

Song Translation Analysis as a Means for Intercultural Connectivity

In an increasingly interconnected and globalised world, the need for cross cultural understanding is greater than ever before. Exploring and analysing songs from different cultures can be an effective ‘entry point’ into learning about the nature of other peoples and societies lives and for developing a sense of ethnocultural empathy. Protest songs can provide a lens for intercultural analysis, especially for understanding minority or subcultural perspectives. Translating songs into different languages makes these works more accessible to a broader cross-section of people. We present translations of protest songs, two from Indonesian to English, and one from English to Indonesian. We discuss the respective importance of meaning and poetics in making song translations. Strict adherence to song rhymes is a challenge for translators and one which may impede meaning. The optimal approach depends on the format in which the translation is likely to be presented. Fluency in the target language, rather than the source language, is more helpful for successful translation. Finally, we make some recommendations about the usefulness of intercultural song (text) translation analysis and intercultural awareness.

Ethnocultural Empathy and Racial Colorblindness Among White Police Recruits: Do Cross-Racial Friendships Matter?

We investigated how ethnocultural empathy and colorblind racial beliefs were associated through the racial composition of close friendship groups in police recruits. In a sample of White police recruits in a midwestern training academy ( N = 192), mediation analyses revealed a significant association between ethnocultural empathy and colorblind racial beliefs through Black friendships. Specifically, findings from path analyses indicated an indirect effect between earlier empathy for Black, Indigenous, People of Color and later reduced denial of institutional racism. Although both ethnocultural empathy and racial beliefs were associated with Asian American and Latinx friends, these close cross-racial friendships were not significant mediators. Limitations, directions for future research, and implications for training and intervention in police samples are discussed.

An Evaluation of Academic- and Cultural-Based Service-Learning as Critical Pedagogies for Student Learning

A cross-sectional study was conducted to evaluate differences in students learning outcomes for 328 undergraduate students enrolled in psychology courses that utilize academic- and cultural-based service-learning as primary pedagogical methods. Results from a repeated measures analyses of covariance indicate that students improve their awareness of White privilege and understanding of gender and racial discrimination from the beginning to the end of the course. Cultural-based service-learners also had a deeper understanding of White privilege, gender and racial discrimination, and racial and economic disparities in the community, as well as stronger perspective-taking skills, ethnocultural empathy, and interpersonal engagement compared to academic-based service-learners. Results from a repeated measures analysis of variance further indicate that upperclassmen develop a racial-cultural-ethnic identity; while, underclassmen develop ethnocultural awareness over time. Implications for incorporating critical service-learning pedagogies in beginning, middle, and ending psychology courses are discussed.

Embedding Ethnocultural Empathy in a Community-Based Health Intervention Writing Assignment

This article describes an undergraduate health sciences course where students propose a community-level intervention that addresses a local health disparity. Students use community planning principles and health equity concepts as a final project in their 8-week online community-engaged course. The student-proposed project engages a community in health education or promotion-program planning and allows for faculty assessment of pedagogical decisions. A curricular commitment to health equity enhances the capacity and competency of learners to address the structural inequities that fuel pervasive health disparities among socially disadvantaged populations. Ethnocultural empathy or racial/ethnic perspective taking is used as a measurable competency. The final paper requires students to describe how the perspectives of Black, Indigenous, People of Color (BIPOC) have shaped their proposed community intervention. They are also asked to offer recommendations on how to best mitigate the racial bias that may show up in community-based interventions.