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Compassion: an evolutionary analysis and empirical review
Open accessAbstract
What is compassion? And how did it evolve? In this review, we integrate 3 evolutionary arguments that converge on the hypothesis that compassion evolved as a distinct affective experience whose primary function is to facilitate cooperation and protection of the weak and those who suffer. Our empirical review reveals compassion to have distinct appraisal processes attuned to undeserved suffering; distinct signaling behavior related to caregiving patterns of touch, posture, and vocalization; and a phenomenological experience and physiological response that orients the individual to social approach. This response profile of compassion differs from those of distress, sadness, and love, suggesting that compassion is indeed a distinct emotion. We conclude by considering how compassion shapes moral judgment and action, how it varies across different cultures, and how it may engage specific patterns of neural activation, as well as emerging directions of research.
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“Although there are varying definitions of empathy and compassion, they are often considered related but distinct pro-social emotions that consist of cognitive and affective components and can be learned with practice (Bibeau, Dionne, & Leblanc, 2016; Goetz, Keltner, & Simon-Thomas, 2010).”
From A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis of the Effects of Meditation on Empathy, Compassion, and Prosocial Behaviors (2018) · cites this paper as Goetz, Keltner, & Simon-Thomas, 2010
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“Love and compassion are self-transcendent emotions, a family of emotions that increase prosocial behavior (113, 114), perceptions of connectedness (115), and the tendency to transcend self-centered needs to focus on the needs of others (116).”
From MDMA-Assisted Therapy as a Means to Alter Affective, Cognitive, Behavioral, and Neurological Systems Underlying Social Dysfunction in Social Anxiety Disorder (2021) · cites this paper as [113]
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“The evolved value of caring for others had many potential advantages, including infant survival, survival of helpful relatives, indicating self as a desirable friend, as a sexual attractor and for cooperation [9, 54].”
From The development of compassionate engagement and action scales for self and others (2017) · cites this paper as [54]
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The origins and nature of compassion focused therapy
Gilbert, P. (2014) · British Journal of Clinical Psychology · doi:10.1111/bjc.12043 · Cited by 1,593
Having less, giving more: The influence of social class on prosocial behavior.
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Self-citation
Metadata
- Authors
- Goetz, J. L., Keltner, D., & Simon-Thomas, E.
- Affiliations
- University of California, Berkeley (US)
- Venue
- Psychological Bulletin
- Published
- 2010-05
- Volume
- 136
- Issue
- 3
- Pages
- 351-374
- ISSN
- 0033-2909 (ISSN-L)
- 1939-1455
- PMC
- PMC2864937
- OpenAlex
- W2148616640
- Cited by
- 2,200
- References
- 261
- Citations by year
- 2026: 168 · 2025: 203 · 2024: 164 · 2023: 218 · 2022: 209 · 2021: 201 · 2020: 169 · 2019: 155 · 2018: 139 · 2017: 131 · 2016: 110 · 2015: 94 · 2014: 84 · 2013: 66 · 2012: 56
- FWCI
- 67.02
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
- Locations
- Psychological Bulletin (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- PubMed Central (acceptedVersion)
- Funders
- National Institute of Mental Health (T32-MH067562)
- Metanexus Institute
- Russell Sage Foundation
- Fetzer Foundation
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Emotions and Moral Behavior
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Psychology of Moral and Emotional Judgment
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Mindfulness and Compassion Interventions
- Keywords
- compassion, evolution of emotions, cooperation, protection of vulnerable persons, caregiver behavior, touch, vocalizations, physiological responses, social approach, moral judgment, cross-cultural variation, neuronal activation
- MeSH terms
- Adult, Animals, Arousal, Child, Preschool, Cooperative Behavior, Cross-Cultural Comparison, Emotions, Empathy, Biological Evolution, Facial Expression, Female, Humans, Infant, Male, Morals, Motivation, Nonverbal Communication, Social Support, Socialization, Touch, Empirical Research
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