Predictors of outgroup empathy among majority and minority children in a conflict-affected society

We examined the predictors of outgroup empathy in children growing up in a city devastated during the fall of the Former Yugoslavia. Children (N=155; 76 male, 79 female) from both majority (64.5% Croatian) and minority (35.5% Serbian) ethnic groups, ranging from 6 to 11 years old (M=8.77, SD=1.15) participated. A multiple-group path analysis in Mplus found that age, general empathy, quality contact and perceived intergroup conflict related to higher outgroup empathy. There were no significant links from gender, quantity contact or outgroup friends to outgroup empathy. The findings were consistent across majority and minority ethnic groups. Implications are discussed.