Art and Design Commons^™

Empathizing With “The Other”: Visualization And Perspective Taking, Lisa Spitz, Liv Cummins

Lesley University Community of Scholars Day

As today’s youth blossom into adulthood, they will simultaneously be challenged to develop their sense of self/identity and to cultivate their ability to embrace differences, all while being bombarded by visual media and messaging. Research literature on perspective taking provides a framework by which students can develop an understanding of their own perspective, imagine the world from an “other” perspective, and make connections that link to productive actions (Selman, 1971). Perspective taking as a concept has been linked to greater empathy, compassion, and prosocial behavior (Hardwood and Farrar, 2006). Yet the mechanism for enabling productive perspective taking is unclear. In …