Using phrases like 'refugees in a group' instead of 'a group of refugees' could boost empathy for migrants, asylum-seekers and other dehumanised groups, a psychologist has found.

Defining empathy as perceiving how others have the ability to feel and think, the University of North Carolina's Kurt Gray examined "how subtle shifts in framing can alter the mind perception of groups", according to his paper in the Journal of Experimental Psychology.

He found that while "people generally perceive groups to have less mind than individuals... changing the framing of a group from 'a group of people' to 'people in a group' substantially increases mind perception – leading to comparable levels of mind between groups and individuals."

In pictures: A day of refugee rescues in the Mediterranean Sea Show all 7 1 /7 In pictures: A day of refugee rescues in the Mediterranean Sea In pictures: A day of refugee rescues in the Mediterranean Sea A baby being taken on to MSF's Bourbon Argos ship from a boat carrying 130 migrants and refugees Lizzie Dearden In pictures: A day of refugee rescues in the Mediterranean Sea A refugee boat carrying 101 people being rescued by MSF's Bourbon Argos Lizzie Dearden In pictures: A day of refugee rescues in the Mediterranean Sea A refugee boat carrying 101 people being rescued by MSF's Bourbon Argos all images by Lizzie Dearden In pictures: A day of refugee rescues in the Mediterranean Sea A baby among refugees on a boat carrying 185 people off the coast of Libya Lizzie Dearden In pictures: A day of refugee rescues in the Mediterranean Sea Migrants and refugees sleeping after being rescued by MSF's Bourbon Argos ship Lizzie Dearden In pictures: A day of refugee rescues in the Mediterranean Sea A crew from MSF's Bourbon Argos ship rescuing a boat carrying 130 migrants and refugees off the coast of Libya, at sunrise Lizzie Dearden In pictures: A day of refugee rescues in the Mediterranean Sea A woman in a stretcher being lifted onto MSF's Bourbon Argos ship from a boat carrying 130 migrants and refugees off the coast of Libya Lizzie Dearden

Mr Gray asked participants in his study to assess workers in a fictional accounting firm. He was looking at both "agency", or the ability to process thoughts and decisions, and "experience", here meaning the ability to understand events through emotion.

One group were asked about specific members of the firm, another were asked about "an accounting company comprised of 15 people", and a third about "the 15 people who compose an accounting company."

Participants asked about "a company comprising of people" were far less likely to describe those people as capable of experiencing emotion, and a little less likely to say they possessed rational agency.

Fire ravages Dunkirk refugee camp in northern France

But participants asked about the "people comprising the company" rated them as equally capable of thoughts and decisions as the named, individual workers – and even more capable of experiencing emotion.

Mr Gray concludes: "This change in framing influences people’s sympathy for groups." While the research does not specifically address refugees, it can evidently be applied to the ongoing, global refugee crisis – saying "15 asylum-seekers arrived in a boat" for example.

There are now 5 million refugees in countries like Jordan and Turkey which share a border with war-torn Syria, while up to two million people have sought refuge in Europe across the last few years.

Around 65 million people were living in displacement across the globe in 2015, according to the UN, meaning one in every 113 people in the world is a refugee.