The more time we spend with people from another nationality the more empathy we have for them, University of Queensland research has found.
UQ’s School of Psychology and Queensland Brain Institute Associate Professor Ross Cunnington examined whether people’s brains responded to people of other races differently following an increase in contact with that race.
“Research over the past decade has shown the brain has a very strong racial bias in response to seeing others in pain or suffering,” Dr Cunnington said.
“As a result, we have much stronger biologically-driven empathy towards people of our own race. However, our study has shown that the level of empathy in the brain increases the more a person spends time with other races.
