The Emotional Voter- How Empathy Drives Political Behavior

This book investigates the effects of an empathetic emotional disposition inpolitical decision making. Previous research has shown that empathy has importantimplications in group-centered behavior. However little research hasbeen done with experimental tests of how empathy directly impacts behavior.This book uses experimental and survey research methods to test the hypothesisthat empathy is a general guide to collective action. Empathy is not onlya significant predictor of behavior but is a conditional characteristic that interactswith other factors in cooperative action.