Compassion

For other uses, see Compassion (disambiguation).

Hugging is a common display of compassion

Compassion is a social feeling that motivates people to go out of their way to relieve the physical, mental, or emotional pains of others and themselves. Compassion is sensitivity to the emotional aspects of the suffering of others. When based on notions such as fairness, justice, and interdependence, it may be considered partially rational in nature.

Compassion involves "feeling for another" and is a precursor to empathy, the "feeling as another" capacity (as opposed to sympathy, the "feeling towards another"). In common parlance, active compassion is the desire to alleviate another's suffering.[1]

Compassion involves allowing ourselves to be moved by suffering to help alleviate and prevent it. An act of compassion is one that is intended to be helpful. Other virtues that harmonize with compassion include patience, wisdom, kindness, perseverance, warmth, and resolve. It is often, though not inevitably, the key component in altruism. The difference between sympathy and compassion is that the former responds to others' suffering with sorrow and concern whereas the latter responds with warmth and care.[2] An article in Clinical Psychology Review suggests that "compassion consists of three facets: noticing, feeling, and responding".[3]

  1. ^ Lopez, Shane J., ed. (2009). "Compassion". Encyclopedia of Positive Psychology. Malden, MA: Wiley-Blackwell. ISBN 978-1-4051-6125-1. OCLC 226984639.
  2. ^ Reddy, Nanda Kishore; Ajmera, Santosh (2015). Ethics, Integrity and Aptitude. McGraw-Hill Education. p. 146. ISBN 978-93-5134-236-6.
  3. ^ Strauss, Clara; Lever Taylor, Billie; Gu, Jenny; Kuyken, Willem; Baer, Ruth; Jones, Fergal; Cavanagh, Kate (July 2016). "What is compassion and how can we measure it? A review of definitions and measures". Clinical Psychology Review. 47: 15–27. doi:10.1016/j.cpr.2016.05.004. ISSN 0272-7358. PMID 27267346.