Americans aren’t bad at walking in each other’s shoes.
So says a Michigan State University study the Daily News got an advance
at that ranks 63 countries by empathy. So how’d the U.S. do?
A decent
No. 7. Ecuador is the most empathic nation. Lithuania the least.
The study, to be published online in the Journal of Cross-Cultural
Psychology, is the first to look at empathy on a nation-by-nation basis.
It analyzed data from online surveys completed by more than 104,000
people from around the world. These questionnaires asked subjects
broadly about generosity and compassion, like if they volunteered time
for an organization or helped a stranger who needed aid, as well as
happiness and satisfaction.
“We linked the responses of people from all different countries to our
measure of empathy,” lead author William Chopik, an assistant professor
of psychology at MSU, tells the Daily News. He looks at America's top 10
rank with guarded optimism. Previous studies have shown a downward trend in empathy in the U.S.
Social media, increases in violence and changing family practices will
all make an impact. These new findings, he says, are a “snapshot of what
empathy looks like right now.” Stay tuned.
The top 10 most emphatic countries:
- Ecuador
- Saudi Arabia
- Peru
- Denmark
- United Arab Emirates
- Korea
- United States
- Taiwan
- Costa Rica
- Kuwait
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