Social empathy for society beyond the social work profession: A contextual understanding of poverty and attitudes towards government interventions

Drawing from a social empathy framework, we examine the relationship between people's contextual understanding of poverty and their attitudes towards government policies of escalating social welfare expenditures. Using the Korean General Social Survey data, this study provides evidence for a relationship between contextual understanding among voters and their welfare attitudes. Those who have an empathetic understanding that people suffer from poverty due to structural inequalities tend to have positive and supportive attitudes towards government expenditures of social welfare for the poor. Based on these findings, theoretical implications are provided.