Of Ignorance and Empathy

It's been interesting to watch us deliberately attempt to erase the acts of racial terror and overt harm that are still occurring in every industry in the United States today. Study after study, the results are the same—we have a race problem that needs to be resolved. Instead of thinking about what we would want to happen if it were us, we are denying the evidence-based and proven realities.

There is some evidence to suggest that willful ignorance and empathy may be negatively correlated, meaning that as one increases, the other decreases. Willful ignorance refers to the intentional avoidance of information or knowledge that could potentially challenge your own beliefs or worldview. Empathy, on the other hand, refers to the ability to understand and share the feelings of others.

One study published in the journal Personality and Individual Differences found that individuals who were high in cognitive reflection (i.e., the tendency to reflect on one's own thought processes and consider alternative perspectives) were less likely to engage in willful ignorance and more likely to show empathy towards others. Similarly, another study published in the journal Emotion found that individuals who were high in emotional intelligence (i.e., the ability to understand and regulate one's own emotions as well as the emotions of others) were less likely to engage in motivated ignorance and more likely to show empathy towards others.

While it is important to note that there could be other factors that influence both willful ignorance and empathy, we would do well to embrace the sentiment of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., "There is nothing more dangerous than sincere ignorance and conscientious stupidity."

#blackhistorymonth #empathyinaction