This study aimed to compare perspective‐taking with a hypothetical target and perspective‐taking occurring during a real interaction with an outgroup member in reducing prejudice toward people with disabilities and other groups (e.g., immigrants, homosexual people), via increased empathy. We adopted an experimental design with two treatment groups (Hypothetical target vs. Real target) and one control group (no intervention), one pretest and two posttest measures. Participants, who were 437 students aged 11–17 years (M = 14.28; SD = 1.17), were randomly assigned to the various conditions on a classroom basis. Perspective‐taking was facilitated asking participants to travel in a wheelchair on a path that simulated a real pavement in the presence (or not) of an individual with a motor disability. Findings showed that perspective‐taking in the presence of a real target was more effective in reducing prejudice toward people with disabilities than perspective‐taking task without encountering an outgroup member. Perspective‐taking with a hypothetical target was not sufficient to increase participants' empathy toward people with disabilities, which instead was enhanced when the task was performed at the presence of a real member of that group. Positive effects produced by perspective‐taking (with both a hypothetical and a real target) were transferred to immigrants and homosexuals. These findings suggest that, when possible, perspective‐taking in the presence of the target, which can improve empathy by favoring a two‐way exchange process, is highly recommended to improve attitudes toward different stigmatized groups, not necessarily targeted by the intervention.

中文翻译：

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坐在轮椅上：采取观点可以减少对残疾人和其他被污名化群体的偏见

这项研究的目的是比较以假想目标为依据的观点采择和与外部群体成员进行真正互动过程中发生的观点采择，以通过增加同理心来减少对残疾人和其他群体（例如移民，同性恋者）的偏见。我们采用了一个实验设计，其中有两个治疗组（假设目标与真实目标）和一个对照组（无干预），一个前测和两个后测。参与者，谁是437岁的学生11-17岁（中号 = 14.28; SD = 1.17），并在课堂上随机分配给各种条件。鼓励人们采取透视图，要求参与者坐在轮椅上，在有或没有运动障碍的个人在场的情况下模拟真实的人行道。研究结果表明，在没有遇到外来成员的情况下，在有实际目标的情况下进行观点调查比在没有残疾人的情况下采取观点调查任务更有效地减少了对残疾人的偏见。以假设目标进行观点分析不足以增加参与者对残疾人的同情心，而当在该组的真实成员在场的情况下执行任务时，这种同情心就会增强。观点采择（既有假设目标又有实际目标）产生的积极影响转移到了移民和同性恋者身上。这些发现表明，在可能的情况下，强烈建议在目标存在的情况下采取观点，这可以通过促进双向交流过程来改善同理心，从而改善对不同受污名群体的态度，而不一定是干预的目标。