UTEP Professors Receive Multiple Best Book Awards for work on Empathy and Politics

Have you ever asked yourself what causes some people to stand in solidarity with those from other races, religions, or nationalities, even when that solidarity does not seem to benefit the individual or their group? That is precisely the issue examined in Seeing Us in Them: Social Divisions and the Politics of Group Empathy, a book published by Cambridge University Press in March 2021. It is co-authored by UTEP’s Cigdem V. Sirin, Ph.D. (Political Science), José D. Villalobos, Ph.D. (Political Science), and Nicholas A. Valentino, Ph.D. (University of Michigan, Ann Arbor). Since publication, the book has garnered much recognition and accolades with numerous awards, both nationally and internationally.

Recent awards include:

• 2022 APSA Best Book Award, American Political Science Association - Montreal, Canada, September 2022.
• 2022 Robert E. Lane Best Book in Political Psychology Award, American Political Science Association - Montreal, Canada, September 2022.
• 2022 Best Book in Experimental Research Award, American Political Science Association - Montreal, Canada, September 2022.
• 2022 David O. Sears Best Book on Mass Politics Award, International Society of Political Psychology - Athens, Greece, July 2022.

Seeing Us in Them examines outgroup empathy as a powerful predisposition in politics that pushes individuals to see past social divisions and work together in complex, multicultural societies. It also reveals racial/ethnic intergroup differences in this predisposition, rooted in early patterns of socialization and collective memory. Outgroup empathy explains why African Americans vehemently oppose the border wall and profiling of Arabs, why Latinos are welcoming of Syrian refugees and support humanitarian assistance, why some white Americans march in support of Black Lives Matter through a pandemic, and even why many British citizens oppose Brexit.

As the APSA Award Committee highlights: “at a time in U.S. politics when polarization is driving people further apart, Seeing Us in Them draws attention to a fundamental human quality – empathy – that could help knit us back together."