“So Many People are Struggling”: Developing Social Empathy Through a Poverty Simulation

Abstract

This article reports on the use of a poverty simulation with a sample of students from a large public university in the Southeast. To better understand whether participation in a poverty simulation influences attitudes and fosters social empathy for people in poverty, a pre- and postquestionnaire and a reflection paper were used. Quantitative analysis suggests that the simulation fostered more understanding of the conditions contributing to poverty. Qualitative analysis indicates that students gained greater depth of understanding and empathy about the lived experience of poverty. Together, the results suggest the poverty simulation develops a more nuanced understanding of poverty.