.jpg)
printThe Strategic Empathy in the World Politics:
Is It Possible to Overcome the Rashomon Effect and Fundamental Attribution Error?
Chugrov S.V.,
Moscow State Institute of International Relations (MGIMO University), Moscow, Russia, s.chugrov@inno.mgimo.ru
elibrary_id: 252110 | ORCID: 0000-0002-8307-7606 | RESEARCHER_ID: E-4747-2016
DOI: 10.17976/jpps/2021.05.08
Rubric: Orbis terrarum
For citation:
Chugrov S.V. The Strategic Empathy in the World Politics: Is It Possible to Overcome the Rashomon Effect and Fundamental Attribution Error? – Polis. Political Studies. 2021. No. 5. https://doi.org/10.17976/jpps/2021.05.08
The article was prepared in the framework of a research grant funded by the Ministry of Science and Higher Education of the Russian Federation (grant ID: 075-15-2020-930)
Abstract
Political and psychological factors, in particular the Rashomon effect (a plurality of parallel ‘true’ versions) and the fundamental attribution error, provide us with capacity to give a more insightful description of the mechanism of the emergence of internal political and international conflicts of varying intensity in our increasingly complex world. They also reveal the anatomy of turbulent global processes that on a mass level, have formed a presentiments of apocalyptic catastrophes, which, moreover, is fueled by propaganda. In political communication, the fundamental attribution error is expressed in the fact that many politicians and journalists tend to overestimate the positive characteristics of ‘us-group’ (their country) and ignore situational factors when assessing the behavior of ‘others’, ‘their-groups’. Because of the fundamental attribution error, politicians and the media tend to evaluate the actions of the opposing side as negative actions and ignore situational factors that could play a role. This is a typical source of an ‘alternative truth’ in the media, biased judgments and misunderstandings that can aggravate international relations. The author argues that causal attribution errors feed irrational nationalist feelings, although the psychological mechanisms of this process are still poorly explored. As a method of overcoming the psychological mechanisms of reality distortion, the author proposes a wider use of the strategic empathy toolkit.
Keywords
human capital, psychological factors, foreign policy, Rashomon effect, causal attribution, psychology of international relations.
References
Acharya A., Buzan B. 2007. Why Is There No Non-Western International Relations Theory? An Introduction. – International Relations of the Asia-Pacific. Vol. 7. No. 3. P. 287-312. https://doi.org/10.1093/irap/lcm012
Anderson R. 2016. The Rashomon Effect and Communication. – Canadian Journal of Communication. Vol. 41. No. 2. https://doi.org/10.22230/cjc.2016v41n2a3068
Chugrov S.V. 2017. The Image of Russia in Japan and the Image of Japan in Russia: Working Paper 33. Ed. by I.S. Ivanov. Moscow: Russian International Affairs Council. 60 p. URL: https://russiancouncil.ru/en/activity/workingpapers/the-image-of-russia-in-japan-and-the-image-of-japan-in-russia/ (accessed 31.07.2021).
Gawronski B. 2004. Theory-Based Bias Correction in Dispositional Inference: The Fundamental Attribution Error Is Dead, Long Live the Correspondence Bias. – European Review of Social Psychology. No. 15. P. 183-217. https://doi.org/10.1080/10463280440000026
Gilovich Th., Ross L. 2015. The Wisest One in the Room: How You Can Benefit from Social Psychology’s Most Powerful Insights. Simon and Schuster: 320 p.
Hama H. 1999. Ethnomethodology and the Rashomon Problem. – Human Studies. Vol. 22. P. 183-192. https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1005436400730
Hamilton D.L. 1998. Dispositional and Attributional Inferences in Person Perception. – Attribution and Social Interaction. Ed. by J.M. Darley, J. Cooper. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association. P. 99-114.
Heider K.G. 1988. The Rashomon Effect: When Ethnographers Disagree. – American Anthropologist. Vol. 90. No. 1. P. 73-81. https://doi.org/10.1525/aa.1988.90.1.02a00050
Herrmann R.K. 2013. Perceptions and Image Theory in International Relations. – The Oxford Handbook of Political Psychology. 2nd ed. Ed. by L. Huddy, D.O. Sears, J.S. Levy. Thousand Oaks: Sage. P. 334-363.
Herrmann R., Fischerkeller M. 2000. Counterfactual Reasoning in Motivational Analysis: U.S. Policy toward Iran. – Counterfactual Thought Experiments in World Politics. Ed. by Ph.E. Tetlock, A. Belkin. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press. P. 149-168. https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctv10vm1bn.10
Karatani K. 2003. Transcritique: on Kant and Marx. Cambridge, MA, London: MIT Press.
Kusá Z. 2003. Rashomon in the Case Study Research. – Sociologia. Vol. 35. No. 1. P. 37-60.
Lovink G. 2002. Dark Fiber. Tracking Critical Internet Culture. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
Lustick I.S. 2017. Thinking Counterfactually and with Discipline: Agent-Based Models for Constructing and Deconstructing the Future. – Interpretive Quantification. Methodological Explorations for Critical and Constructivist IR. Ed. by J.S. Barkin, L. Sjoberg. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press. P. 145-173.
Masuda T., Nisbett R.E. 2001. Attending Holistically vs. Analytically: Comparing the Context Sensitivity of Japanese and Americans. – Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. Vol. 81. No. 5. P. 922-934. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.81.5.922
Rashomon Effects. Kurosawa, Rashomon and their legacies. 2018. Ed. by B. Davis, R. Anderson, J. Walls. London: Routledge. 198 p.
Rice R.E. 2009. Diffusion of Innovations: Theoretical Extensions. – Handbook of Media Effects. Ed. by R. Nabi, M.B. Oliver. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage. P. 489-504.
Ross L.D. 1977. The Intuitive Psychologist and His Shortcomings: Distortions in the Attribution Process. – Advances in Experimental Social Psychology. Ed. by L. Berkowitz. Vol. 10. N.Y.: Academic Press. P. 173-220.
Sunstein C.R. 2021. Echo Chambers. Princeton: Princeton University Press,
Sylvan D. 2017. Computing Narratives. Assemblage Relations in Diplomatic Conversations. – Interpretive Quantification. Methodological Explorations for Critical and Constructivist IR. Ed. by J.S. Barkin, L. Sjoberg. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press. P. 123-144.
Wiseman Th. 1996. A Concept Analysis of Empathy. – Journal of Advanced Nursing. Vol. 23. No. 6. P. 1162-1167. https://doi.org/10.1046/j.1365-2648.1996.12213.x
Alekseyenkova Ye.S., Sergeev V.M. 2008. The Dark Well of Power (on the Boundary between the Private Sphere of the State and the Person’s Private Sphere). – Polis. Political Studies. No. 3. P. 148-165. (In Russ.) URL: https://www.politstudies.ru/article/3997 (accessed 09.08.2021).
Bourdieu P. 1993. Espace Social et Pouvoir Symbolique. (Russ. ed.: Bourdieu P. Sotsial’noe prostranstvo i simvolicheskaya vlast’. – Thesis. No. 2. P. 137-150).
Degterev D.A. 2015. Net-analysis of International Relations. – Vestnik Sankt-Peterburgskogo universiteta. Politologiya. Mezhdunarodnye otnosheniya. No. 4. P. 119-138. (In Russ.)
Dutkiewicz P., Kazarinova D.B. 2017. Fear as Politics. – Polis. Political Studies. No. 4. P. 8-21. (In Russ.). https://doi.org/10.17976/jpps/2017.04.02
Evgen’eva T.V. 2015. Figurative and Symbolic Representation of the Soviet Past in Contemporary Politics. – Politicheskaia ekspertiza: POLITEKS. No. 3. P. 16-31. (In Russ.)
Gaman-Golutvina O.V., Nikitin A.I., Arteev S.P. 2021. Interface Between Political Science and Political Discourse: Conflict Dimension. – Polis. Political Studies. No. 2. P. 139-156. (In Russ.) https://doi.org/10.17976/jpps/2021.02.10
Gumensky A.V. 2015. The Troll Procession. How Communications Are Ruining Diplomacy. – Russia in Global Affairs. Vol. 13. No. 5. P. 77-88. (In Russ.)
Maslow A. 2008. Motivation and Personality. (Russ. ed.: Maslow A. Motivatsiya i lichnost’. Saint Petersburg: Piter).
Naumkin V.V. 2020. Non-West Model: Does the Civilization-State Exist? – Polis. Political Studies. No. 4. P. 78-93. (In Russ.) https://doi.org/10.17976/jpps/2020.04.06
“Politika postpravdy” i populizm. 2018. Pod red. O.V. Popovoi [“Post-Truth Politics” and Populism]. Ed. by O.V. Popova. Saint Petersburg: Skifiya-print.
Potseluev S.P., Podshibyakina T.A. 2018. On the Factors of Political Radicalisation in Online Communication Through “Echo Chambers”. – Scientific Thought of Caucasus. Vol. 94. No. 2. P. 29-34. (In Russ.) https://doi.org/10.18522/2072-0181-2018-94-2-29-34
Psikhologiya politicheskogo vospriyatiya v sovremennoi Rossii. Pod red. E.B. Shestopal [The Psychology of Political Perception in Contemporary Russia. Ed. by E.B. Shestopal]. 2012. Moscow: ROSSPEN. (In Russ.)
Psikhologiya politicheskoi elity Rossii. 2015. Pod red. E.B. Shestopal, A.V. Seleznevoi [The Psychology of Russia’s Political Elite. Ed. by E.B. Shestopal, A.V. Selezneva]. Moscow: Argamak-Media. (In Russ.)
Putin 3.0.: obshchestvo i vlast’ v noveishei istorii Rossii. 2015 [Putin 3.0: Society and Power in the Modern History of Russia. Ed. by E.B. Shestopal]. Moscow: ARGAMAK-MEDIA. (In Russ.)
Shestopal E.B. 2002. Politicheskaya psikhologiya [Political Psychology]. Moscow: INFRA-M. (In Russ.)
Shestopal E.B. 2018. Vlast’ i lidery v vospriyatii rossiiskikh grazhdan. Chetvert’ veka nablyudenii (1993-2018) [Power and Leaders in the Perception of Russian Citizens. a Quarter Century of Observations (1993-2018)]. Moscow: Ves Mir. (In Russ.)
Shestopal E.B. 2019. Quarter-Century-Long Project: Study of the Images of Authorities and Leaders in Post-Soviet Russia (1993-2018). – Polis. Political Studies. No. 1. P. 9-20. (In Russ.) https://doi.org/10.17976/jpps/2019.01.02
Solov’ev A.I. 2018. Crises and “Crisis”: How To Treat Cognitive Conflicts of Political Science? – Political Science (RU). No. 1. P. 105-122. (In Russ.)
Solov’ev A.I. 2020. Power and Politics. Polemic Notes about “Damned Questions” of Political Science. – Polis. Political Studies. No. 6. P. 135-147. (In Russ.). https://doi.org/10.17976/jpps/2020.06.10
Sovremennaya politicheskaya nauka. Metodologiya. Otv. red. O.V. Gaman-Golutvina, A.I. Nikitin [Modern Political Science. Methodology. Ed. by O.V. Gaman-Golutvina, A.I. Nikitin]. 2019. Moscow: Aspekt Press. (In Russ.)
Strategicheskie kommunikatsii v tsifrovuyu epokhu. Novye tekhnologii. Pod red. L.S. Sal’nikovoi [Strategic Communications in the Digital Age. New Technologies. Ed. by L.S. Sal’nikova]. 2019. Moscow: Izdatel’skii dom “Nauchnaya biblioteka”. (In Russ.)
Content No. 5, 2021
See also:
Selezneva A.V., Rogozar-Kolpakova I.I., Filistovich Ye.S., Trofimova V.V., Dobrynina Ye.P., Streletz I.E.,
Russian political elite: analysis from the perspective of the human capital concept. – Polis. Political Studies. 2010. No4
Pavlov N.V.,
Are diplomats to master psychology?. – Polis. Political Studies. 2012. No4
Melville A.Yu., Ilyin M.V., Makarenko B.I., Meleshkina Ye.Yu., Mironyuk M.G., Sergeev V.M., Timofeev I.N.,
Russian Foreign Policy as Seen by the Expert Community. – Polis. Political Studies. 2009. No4
Round Table of the «Polis» Journal, Galkin A.A., Nikovskaya L.I., Krasin Yu.A., Pantin V.I., Veber A.B., Danilevich I.V., Podyachev K.V., Patrushev S.V., Fadeyeva L.A., Kuryukin A.N., Glukhova A.V., Lapkin V.V.,
Theory and politics of innovative development and the innovations in politics. – Polis. Political Studies. 2010. No2
Round Table of the «Polis» Journal, Shestopal Ye.B., Winter D., Irkhin Yu.V., Chirikova A.Ye., , , , Kuznetzov I.I., Rogozar-Kolpakova I.I., Streletz I.E., Dobrynina Ye.P., , Trofimova V.V., Pishcheva T.N.,
Political leadership and personality problems. – Polis. Political Studies. 2011. No2
.jpg)
.jpg)