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matan rubin

Comparing the value of perceived humanversus AI-generated empathy

16 July, 2025

new paper published in Nature Human Behaviour by Matan Rubin, Prof. Anat Perry, and colleagues, explores whether empathic responses are perceived differently when attributed to a human versus artificial intelligence.

Across nine studies with over 6,000 participants, the researchers found that identically generated empathic messages were rated as more empathic, supportive, and authentic when thought to come from a human.

oded leshem

Congratulation to Dr. Oded Adomi Leshem

2 July, 2025

Who won ISPP’s 2025 David O. Sears Best Book Award for his book "Hope Amidst Conflict: Philosophical and Psychological Explorations," Published by Oxford University Press.

Leshem is a senior researcher at the PICR lab and the founder of the new International Hub for Hope Research.

David O. Sears Best Book on Mass Politics Award

Amir Tal

Welcome Dr. Amir Tal

24 June, 2025

The Department of Psychology is excited to welcome Dr. Amir Tal, a new faculty member joining the department in collaboration with the Department of Cognitive Science and the Brain. Amir will join us in the upcoming academic year (2025–2026) and will lead the Computational Psychology cluster.

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Using performance art to promote intergroup prosociality by cultivating the belief that empathy is unlimited

2 January, 2023
Using performance art to promote intergroup prosociality by cultivating the belief that empathy is unlimited

Empathy is important for resolving intergroup conflicts. However, people tend to feel less empathy toward people who do not belong to our social group outgroup members). To overcome this tendency, Dr Yossi Hasson, Prof. Maya Tamir, Prof. Eran Halperin and others developed a new intervention synthesizing psychology and art to increase the belief that empathy is unlimited.

Across various intergroup contexts (including different ethnic, national, religious, and political groups) results show that the more people believe empathy is limited, the less outgroup empathy they experience. Moreover, leading people to believe that empathy is unlimited increased outgroup empathy, led to greater support for prosocial actions, and encouraged more empathic behaviors toward outgroup members in face-to-face intergroup interactions!

See full article here