Simpatía and Empathy-Related Constructs: An Exploratory Study of Mexican and U.S. Undergraduate Samples

As the Latine population expands in the United States, understanding culturally rooted values such as simpatía —which emphasizes interpersonal harmony—becomes increasingly important. Although some definitions of simpatía have included empathy-related constructs (i.e., empathy, perspective taking, empathic concern), empirical research has yet to examine these associations directly. This study explored relations between simpatía and empathy-related constructs using self-report measures in a sample of 198 college students, identifying as 56 Mexican nationals, 41 Latine Americans, or 101 non-Latine Americans. Mexican participants reported higher endorsement of simpatía than non-Latine participants, whereas Latine Americans did not differ significantly. Perspective taking was positively associated with simpatía, empathic concern showed no unique association, and personal distress was unexpectedly positively associated—highlighting the need for further exploration of emotional processes underlying culturally valued social behaviors.