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How Does Empathy Modulate Susceptibility to False Memory?


 Based on the view that the function of empathy is to integrate one’s concepts of the self and others, we hypothesised that empathy facilitates memory by relating external events to self-related information. However, whether empathy’s facilitative effect on memory applied to misleading information was unknown. To test this, we used a misinformation paradigm on a sample of 51 participants aged 20–42. Participants were fed misleading information after watching videos that evoked different degrees of empathy. The results showed that the participants’ susceptibility to misleading information was lower for videos that provoked a high degree of empathy compared to videos that provoked a low degree of empathy. Based on our data, we conclude that empathy can prevent people from being misled by false information.