TITLE:
Social Media Use and Empathy: A Mini Meta-Analysis
AUTHORS:
Shu-Sha Angie Guan, Sophia Hain, Jennifer Cabrera, Andrea Rodarte
KEYWORDS:
Social Media, Empathic Concern, Perspective-Taking
JOURNAL NAME:
Social Networking,
Vol.8 No.4,
October
9,
2019
ABSTRACT: Concerns
about the effects of social media or social networking site (SNS) use
on prosocial development are increasing. The aim of the current study is to
meta-analytically summarize the research to date (k = 5) about the relationship between general SNS use and two components
of empathy (i.e., empathic concern and
perspective-taking). Random effects meta-analyses showed that SNS use
was significantly and positively related to affective empathy though only
marginally related to cognitive empathy. These effects were generally small in
size and do not establish causality. Future research should explore how
specific behaviors are related to different forms of empathy.