Details:

Alternative Title:
Emotion
Personal Author:
Condon, Paul; Barrett, Lisa Feldman;
Condon, Paul; Barrett, Lisa Feldman; Less -
Description:
Does compassion feel pleasant or unpleasant? Westerners tend to categorize compassion as a pleasant or positive emotion, but laboratory compassion inductions, which present another's suffering, may elicit unpleasant feelings. Across two studies, we examined whether prototypical conceptualizations of compassion (as pleasant) differ from experiences of compassion (as unpleasant). After laboratory-based neutral or compassion inductions, participants made abstract judgments about compassion relative to various emotion-related adjectives, thereby providing a prototypical conceptualization of compassion. Participants also rated their own affective states, thereby indicating experiences of compassion. Conceptualizations of compassion were pleasant across neutral and compassion inductions. After exposure to others' suffering, however, participants felt increased levels of compassion and unpleasant affect, but not pleasant affect. After neutral inductions, participants reported more pleasant than unpleasant affect, with moderate levels of compassion. Thus, prototypical conceptualizations of compassion are pleasant, but experiences of compassion can feel pleasant or unpleasant. The implications for emotion theory in general are discussed.
Subject:
[+]
Adult
Affect
Affective Circumplex
Article
Concept Formation
Conceptual Act Theory
Emotion
Emotions
Empathy
Female
Humans
Male
Multidimensional Scaling
Pilot Projects
Subjective Experience

Source:
Emotion. 13(5):817-821.;
Document Type:
Journal Article;
Funding:
DP1 OD003312/OD/NIH HHS/United States; DP10D003312/DP/NCCDPHP CDC HHS/United States;
DP1 OD003312/OD/NIH HHS/United States; DP10D003312/DP/NCCDPHP CDC HHS/United States; Less -
Collection(s):
CDC Public Access
Main Document Checksum:
[+]
urn:sha256:515b2eec66f89677253a7398b47464c8a773b08d13ca40f2beb8fa4ec6fe44cf
File Type:

Supporting Files

• 	NIHMS597328-supplement-supplement_1.pdf	pdf
  	nihms597328.nxml	txt
  	nihms597328f1.gif	gif
  	nihms597328f1.jpg	jpeg
  	nihms597328f2.gif	gif
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