Abstract

The research investigated how interethnic contact and attitude valence relate to intergroup empathic emotions. The emotions reciprocally felt by Italians and ethnic minorities were measured, as were the emotions that each group believed the other group felt toward the ingroup, via a meta-attribution task. Two studies were carried out. Study 1 involved Italian (N = 67) and immigrants (N = 40) working in the same factory, while Study 2 Italian participants (N = 123) and Muslim immigrants (N = 94). Main results indicated that empathic emotions are more often felt by the Italians that have contacts with and a favourable attitude toward ethnic minorities. Among Italians that have scarce or no contacts with minorities, attitude valence does not differentiate among emotions.