Vicarious Experience: Experimentally Testing the Effects of Empathy for Media Characters with Severe Depression and the Intervening Role of Perceived Similarity

Informed by the findings in prior research, the current study experimentally tested the effects of empathy responses to different types of media characters on attitudes and support for people with depression. In a between-subjects experiment, participants (N = 80) were assigned to one of three conditions. Participants in the first condition read an article about a high-similarity character with severe depression, those in the second condition read an article about a low-similarity character with severe depression, and those in the control group did not read an article. Participants in all three conditions were then shown a stimulus website for a faux peer-support organization. The results indicated that the level of empathic responses, positive attitudes, and the likelihood of joining the organization and engaging in supportive behaviors increased for those who read about a socially similar person with depression.