Summary: A recent study found that viewers of a docudrama about a unfairly convicted slave developed a greater empathy for former prisoners of war and a greater support for criminal justice reform. The study found that the media’s individual stories can influence attitudes, causing viewers to reevaluate their opinions of disadvantaged groups.
The film’s viewers were more likely to back appeals for changes to the criminal justice system, demonstrating how powerful narrative can be in driving social change. The research shows that stories, rather than data, are more efficient in changing thoughts about social issues.
Important Facts:
- Watching a docudrama made it easier to have empathy for people who were previously incarcerated.
- People became 7.66 % more likely to help criminal justice reform requests.
- More often than not, individual stories in the media influence views.
Origin: Stanford
People were more sympathetic to formerly incarcerated individuals and more supportive of criminal justice reform after watching a docudrama about the work to open a wrongly convicted slave on death row, according to a new study.
The research, led by a team of Stanford psychologists, published Oct. 21 in , Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences ( PNAS ).
According to Jamil Zaki, senior author and professor of psychology at the School of Humanities and Sciences ( H&, S), “one of the hardest things for groups of people who face stigma, including previously incarcerated people,” is that other Americans do n’t perceive their experiences very accurately.
” Getting to know those who have been stigmatized is one way to overcome that lack of empathy for them.” This is where advertising comes in, which has been used by therapists for a long time as an action” . ,
Studying how tale persuades ,
The report combines Zaki’s earlier studies on compassion with the fellowship of Stanford counselor Jennifer Eberhardt, who has spent more than 30 years studying the harmful impact of racial discrimination and discrimination in society.  ,
Eberhardt and one of the executive producers of the movie Only Mercy, who is based on the book by the attorney and social justice advocate Bryan Stevenson, had the idea for the review.
In spite of overwhelming evidence that his ignorance, Walter McMillian, a Black male from Alabama who was sentenced to death for the death of an 18-year-old white woman, was found guilty in 1987, Stevenson’s book concentrates on his efforts to reverse the Equal Justice Initiative.
The drama vividly depicts the systemic racism that exists within the criminal justice system and shows how racial bias painfully affects the lives of disadvantaged people and their families, especially Black Americans, as they explore a dysfunctional legal method.
It was around the time of the movie’s release that Eberhardt, who is a professor of psychology in H&, S, the William R. Kimball Professor of Organizational Behavior in the Graduate School of Business, and a faculty director of Stanford SPARQ, published her book, Biased: Uncovering the Hidden Prejudice That Shapes What We See, Think, and Do ( Viking, 2019 ), which grapples with many of the same issues as Just Mercy.
On her guide tour, she met with many different people, including one of Only Mercy’s professional producers. He approached her while asking a question that erstwhile U.S. President Barack Obama had previously posed to him after a private testing of the movie. Obama pondered whether watching it might alter how cells in women’s brains were fired.  ,
” I told this producer we do n’t have to sit and wonder – this is a question that we can answer through rigorous research”, said Eberhardt. ” This report is a primary step in that direction”.
Up, Eberhardt and Zaki created a study to examine how Really Mercy may alter how people perceive those who have been marginalized in society.
Before and after watching the movie to see a collection of one- to three-minute-long videos that included men who had been incarcerated in real life, the researchers asked participants to also see a set of one- to three-minute-long videos that included men who had been incarcerated in real life to see how watching the film does influence a person’s empathy toward formerly incarcerated people.
As they shared their personal stories, participants were asked to rate how they felt about these men. The men’s actual opinions that they actually gave to the researchers when describing their experiences were then compared to what these ratings were then used to compare these ratings.
Opening minds and hearts ,
Participants in the study’s study were more sympathetic to those who were formerly incarcerated than those in the control condition after watching Just Mercy.  ,
They were also influenced by changes to the criminal justice system.  ,
Participants were asked if they would sign and share a petition in support of a federal law that would grant people with criminal records the right to vote. They discovered that Just Mercy viewers were 7.66 % more likely than control condition viewers to sign petitions.
The study underscores the power of storytelling, Eberhardt said. ” Narratives move people in ways that numbers do n’t” . ,
In a preliminary study, Eberhardt discovered that simply citing statistics about racial disparities can not be used to encourage people to examine systems. In fact, she discovered that simply presenting statistics can have a negative impact.
For instance, highlighting racial disparities in the criminal justice system can make people more likely to support the punitive measures that contribute to those disparities in the first place.
According to Eberhardt and Zaki’s study, stories are what change people’s minds, which is in line with a study Zaki conducted that examined how social and cultural issues can be impacted by audience perceptions of live theater performances.
The psychologists also found that their intervention works regardless of the storyteller’s race, and it had the same effect regardless of people’s political orientation.  ,
Zaki said,” When people experience detailed personal accounts, their mind and heart are opened to the people who are telling them, as well as to the ethnic groups they belong to.”  ,
About this information on research on psychology and empathy
Author: Melissa De Witte
Source: Stanford
Contact: Melissa De Witte – Stanford
Image: The image is credited to Neuroscience News
Original Research: Open access.
Jamil Zaki and others ‘” Film intervention improves understanding of previously incarcerated people and encourages criminal justice reform..” PNAS
Abstract
Film intervention improves understanding of previously incarcerated people and encourages criminal justice reform.
It has been shown that nuanced portrayals of marginalized groups in media reduce prejudice. In an online study ( N = 749 ), we tested whether a feature film that depicts incarcerated people’s experiences in the criminal justice system can improve a ) empathic accuracy and compassion for those who have been incarcerated and b ) support for criminal justice reform.
We based our evaluation of empathic accuracy on a well-validated test that asked participants to model people’s emotions while sharing personal experiences with challenging life experiences. All of the previous storytellers were students and formerly incarcerated. However, in half the videos we labeled them as “formerly incarcerated” and in the remaining half as” college student”.
Then, we conducted a survey of the public’s fundamental opinions of criminal justice reform. Next, we assigned participants to watch one of three films. The Black men on death row’s real stories were captured in the intervention film.
Two similar-length docudramas were used as control movies. Finally, participants had the opportunity to sign a petition and complete the survey and empathic accuracy task once more.
Participants who watched the intervention film more accurately inferred the emotions of storytellers labeled as “formerly incarcerated” and raised their support for criminal justice reform.
These outcomes were felt by both conservative and liberal participants. However, the film had no effect on feelings of compassion.
Together, these results demonstrate how powerful narrative interventions are in boosting people’s support for reforms meant to improve their lives as well as boosting their empathic accuracy for members of a severely stigmatized group.
