Abstract
Whereas a majority of research on intergroup bias has focused on general attitudes and behaviors toward outgroups, there is a growing body of scholarship focusing on factors that lead to helping, supporting, and general compassion or caring for outgroups. Building on research pointing to families as a site of socialization for outgroup attitudes, we employ a memorable message framework to identify various types of messages individuals recall receiving related to mass suffering in the world and outgroup concern. Participants completed open-ended responses about familial messages as part of a larger study on ingroup and outgroup attitudes. Four main themes emerged in the analysis: rationalizing mass suffering, support and action, understanding privilege, and obligation. The findings are discussed in terms of implications for the role of families in the development of prosocial attitudes and more inclusive, empathetic worldviews.