Disentangling the road to a compassionate response to suffering: A multistudy investigation

This multistudy investigation is focused on the analysis of theoretically relevant compassion-related appraisals (i.e., similarity with the person in need, attribution of responsibility, and help-related perceived efficacy) that may promote compassionate responses in the context of adversity. Study 1 (N = 384) revealed that a higher similarity with the person in need, lower attribution of responsibility, and higher help-related perceived efficacy were associated with increased compassion, which, in turn, was associated with a greater desire to help. Study 2 (N = 319) extended prior findings by examining whether this compassionate pathway could be modulated by perspective taking, which is the act of considering the feelings of others in need. Results showed that the compassionate pathway found in Study 1 seems to remain constant regardless of perspective-taking instructions (e.g., imagining how that person feels vs. remaining objective and detached). In this research, we point out a promising direction for interventions directed at enhancing compassion and prosocial tendencies in distressing contexts.