Who is the Identifiable Victim?: Caste Interacts with Sympathy in India

Earlier studies have documented an “identifiable victim effect”: people donate more to help individual people than to groups. Evidence suggests that this is in part due to an emotional reaction to the identified recipients, who generate more sympathy. However, stereotype research has shown that low-ranking groups are often not seen sympathetically; indeed stigmatized groups can be targets of “dehumanized” perception, perceived with disgust. An internet survey experiment among Indian participants, crossing the identification treatment with the group membership of the recipient. This is the first study demonstrating that the identifiable victim effect interacts with the identity of the victim. [CDE Working Paper No. 211]. URL:[http://www.cdedse.org/].