{"id":{"repo_id":"uiuc","oai_identifier":"oai:www.ideals.illinois.edu:2142/78720"},"canonical_url":"https://search.dev.ndltd.org/etd/uiuc/oai:www.ideals.illinois.edu:2142/78720","repository":{"repo_id":"uiuc","name":"University of Illinois - Urbana-Champaign","base_url":"https://www.ideals.illinois.edu/oai-pmh"},"display":{"title":"For the good of the group: how empathy and self-interest simultaneously condition individual support for economic redistribution","abstract":"Made available in DSpace on 2015-07-22T22:45:09Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 2 SPEARS-DISSERTATION-2015.pdf: 1125836 bytes, checksum: f3e3bd18c56cdf5a8d3612e86af7f38d (MD5) LICENSE.txt: 4211 bytes, checksum: 8635ef2393bd946c8c53287e6f1f265e (MD5) Previous issue date: 2015-04-01","abstract_html":"Made available in DSpace on 2015-07-22T22:45:09Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 2 SPEARS-DISSERTATION-2015.pdf: 1125836 bytes, checksum: f3e3bd18c56cdf5a8d3612e86af7f38d (MD5) LICENSE.txt: 4211 bytes, checksum: 8635ef2393bd946c8c53287e6f1f265e (MD5) Previous issue date: 2015-04-01","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Spears, Matthew Allen"],"institution":"University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign","degree_name":"Ph.D.","degree_level":"Dissertation","degree_discipline":"Political Science","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":["Leff, Carol S.","Wong, Cara J.","Kuklinski, James H.","Bernhard, William T."],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2015,"date_issued":"2015-07-22T22:45:09Z","date_published":"2015-07-22T22:45:09Z","updated_at":"2026-07-22T22:26:12Z","subjects":["Empathy","Group identity","Support for redistribution","Self-interest"],"languages":["en"],"rights":["Copyright 2015 Matthew Spears"],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"http://hdl.handle.net/2142/78720","outbound_label":"Handle","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor","label":"Contributor","values":["Leff, Carol S.","Wong, Cara J.","Kuklinski, James H.","Bernhard, William T."]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Spears, Matthew Allen"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date","label":"Dc Date","values":["2015-07-22T22:45:09Z","2017-07-23T09:15:17Z","2015-05","2015-04-01","2015-5"]},{"key":"dc:type","label":"Dc Type","values":["text"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["Political Science"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Dissertation"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Ph.D."]},{"key":"thesis:institution_name","label":"Thesis Institution Name","values":["University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["Empathy","Group identity","Support for redistribution","Self-interest"]}]},{"id":"language_rights","label":"Language and Rights","entries":[{"key":"dc:language","label":"Dc Language","values":["en"]},{"key":"dc:rights","label":"Dc Rights","values":["Copyright 2015 Matthew Spears"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["http://hdl.handle.net/2142/78720"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description","label":"Description","values":["Made available in DSpace on 2015-07-22T22:45:09Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 2 SPEARS-DISSERTATION-2015.pdf: 1125836 bytes, checksum: f3e3bd18c56cdf5a8d3612e86af7f38d (MD5) LICENSE.txt: 4211 bytes, checksum: 8635ef2393bd946c8c53287e6f1f265e (MD5) Previous issue date: 2015-04-01","Embargo set by: Seth Robbins for item 79961 Lift date: 2017-07-22T22:46:21Z Reason: Author requested closed access (OA after 2yrs) in Vireo ETD system","Limited Restriction Lifted for Item 79961 on 2017-07-23T09:15:17Z.","Why do some people support redistribution from the rich to the poor while others do not? A very large literature centers on this question, and the list of possible answers researchers have offered is both long and, occasionally, contradictory. For instance, while certain scholars posit that a Hobbesian sense of self-interest motivates individuals to oppose redistribution, other researchers argue that empathy for those in need encourage individuals to support systems of welfare redistribution. Building on the work of social and political psychologists, I argue that perceptions of group identity are central to determining when, or among whom, self-interest is of primary concern and when, or among whom, empathy leads to higher support for welfare redistribution. Using a variety of existing national and cross-national surveys and a set of original, small-n survey experiments, I find that among individuals who perceive that they share no commonality with the poor, support for redistribution largely is a function of self-interest. Yet, when individuals perceive that they share much in common with the poor, feelings of empathy are more likely to form and self-interest matters less.","Submission published under a 24 month embargo labeled 'Closed Access', the embargo will last until 2017-05-01","The student, Matthew Spears, accepted the attached license on 2015-03-31 at 17:35.","The student, Matthew Spears, submitted this Dissertation for approval on 2015-03-31 at 17:44.","This Dissertation was approved for publication on 2015-04-01 at 13:43.","DSpace SAF Submission Ingestion Package generated from Vireo submission #7778 on 2015-07-22 at 14:24:13"]},{"key":"dc:format","label":"Dc Format","values":["application/pdf"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["For the good of the group: how empathy and self-interest simultaneously condition individual support for economic redistribution"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor":["Leff, Carol S.","Wong, Cara J.","Kuklinski, James H.","Bernhard, William T."],"dc:creator":["Spears, Matthew Allen"],"dc:date":["2015-07-22T22:45:09Z","2017-07-23T09:15:17Z","2015-05","2015-04-01","2015-5"],"dc:description":["Made available in DSpace on 2015-07-22T22:45:09Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 2 SPEARS-DISSERTATION-2015.pdf: 1125836 bytes, checksum: f3e3bd18c56cdf5a8d3612e86af7f38d (MD5) LICENSE.txt: 4211 bytes, checksum: 8635ef2393bd946c8c53287e6f1f265e (MD5) Previous issue date: 2015-04-01","Embargo set by: Seth Robbins for item 79961 Lift date: 2017-07-22T22:46:21Z Reason: Author requested closed access (OA after 2yrs) in Vireo ETD system","Limited Restriction Lifted for Item 79961 on 2017-07-23T09:15:17Z.","Why do some people support redistribution from the rich to the poor while others do not? A very large literature centers on this question, and the list of possible answers researchers have offered is both long and, occasionally, contradictory. For instance, while certain scholars posit that a Hobbesian sense of self-interest motivates individuals to oppose redistribution, other researchers argue that empathy for those in need encourage individuals to support systems of welfare redistribution. Building on the work of social and political psychologists, I argue that perceptions of group identity are central to determining when, or among whom, self-interest is of primary concern and when, or among whom, empathy leads to higher support for welfare redistribution. Using a variety of existing national and cross-national surveys and a set of original, small-n survey experiments, I find that among individuals who perceive that they share no commonality with the poor, support for redistribution largely is a function of self-interest. Yet, when individuals perceive that they share much in common with the poor, feelings of empathy are more likely to form and self-interest matters less.","Submission published under a 24 month embargo labeled 'Closed Access', the embargo will last until 2017-05-01","The student, Matthew Spears, accepted the attached license on 2015-03-31 at 17:35.","The student, Matthew Spears, submitted this Dissertation for approval on 2015-03-31 at 17:44.","This Dissertation was approved for publication on 2015-04-01 at 13:43.","DSpace SAF Submission Ingestion Package generated from Vireo submission #7778 on 2015-07-22 at 14:24:13"],"dc:format":["application/pdf"],"dc:identifier":["http://hdl.handle.net/2142/78720"],"dc:language":["en"],"dc:rights":["Copyright 2015 Matthew Spears"],"dc:subject":["Empathy","Group identity","Support for redistribution","Self-interest"],"dc:title":["For the good of the group: how empathy and self-interest simultaneously condition individual support for economic redistribution"],"dc:type":["text"],"thesis:degree_discipline":["Political Science"],"thesis:degree_level":["Dissertation"],"thesis:degree_name":["Ph.D."],"thesis:institution_name":["University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-22T22:26:12Z"}