We are pleased to announce the publication of our latest journal article, “Extending Perspective Taking to Nonhuman Animals and Artificial Entities,” in the journal Social Cognition. This article details two experiments which tested whether perspective taking can have positive effects in the contexts of animals and intelligent artificial entities.
Abstract
Perspective taking can have positive effects in a range of intergroup contexts. In two experiments, we tested whether these effects generalize to two yet-to-be-studied nonhuman groups: animals and intelligent artificial entities. We found no overall effects of either taking the perspective of a farmed pig or an artificial entity on moral attitudes, compared to instructions to stay objective and a neutral condition. However, in both studies, mediation analysis indicated that perspective taking positively affected moral attitudes via empathic concern and self-other overlap, supporting two mechanisms well-established in the literature. The lack of overall effects may be partly explained by positive effects of staying objective on moral attitudes that offset the positive effects of perspective taking via empathic concern and self-other overlap. These findings suggest that perspective taking functions differently in the context of nonhuman groups relative to typical intergroup contexts. We consider this an important area for future research.
Author’s preprint version (non-paywalled): https://www.sentienceinstitute.org/downloads/extending-perspective-taking-to-nonhuman-animals-and-artificial-entities.pdf
Social Cognition version of record (paywalled): https://guilfordjournals.com/doi/abs/10.1521/soco.2023.41.3.274?journalCode=soco