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Article published In: Information Design Journal
Vol. 30:2 (2025) ► pp.–

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Visual context in biological life cycle diagrams is associated with elevated empathy

ORCiD logo with link | Australian National University | University of Tsukuba
ORCiD logo with link | Australian National University
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Available under the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) 4.0 license.

For any use beyond this license, please contact the publisher at rights@benjamins.nl.

Published online: 26 February 2026
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https://doi.org/10.1075/idj.25002.woo
Abstract
Diagrams are widely used in educational, instructional, and communication contexts, however affective responses to diagrams with the potential to influence motivation, learning, and behavior, have been overlooked. This paper presents a mixed-methods study, employing focus groups (N = 17) and a survey experiment (N = 194) to examine how visual context (a contextual background scene) in biological life cycle diagrams impacts affective responses. Results showed that the inclusion of visual context led to a modest increase in associative/affective empathy (T(191) = 1.943, p = .027, d = 0.281). These findings demonstrate that visual design choices during the development of instructional graphics can have an impact on affective responses, in this case associative/affective empathy, with potentially important implications for education and communication settings.
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Study 1: An exploration of affect in diagram interpretation
    • 2.1Method
    • 2.2Findings
      • 2.2.1Visual context fostered feelings of cognitive and affective empathy
      • 2.2.2Visual context led to empathic concern
    • 2.3Discussion
  • 3.Study 2: A quantitative assessment of the impact of visual context on empathy
    • 3.1Method
    • 3.2Results
      • 3.2.1Validity of the state empathy scale
      • 3.2.2Validity of the trait empathy scale
      • 3.2.3Effect of visual context on state empathy
    • 3.3Discussion
  • 4.Interpretation, implications, and limitations
  • 5.Future directions
  • Acknowledgements
  • References
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