Power, Distress, and Compassion: Turning a Blind Eye to the Suffering of Others
Open accessAbstract
Responses to individuals who suffer are a foundation of cooperative communities. On the basis of the approach/inhibition theory of power (Keltner, Gruenfeld, & Anderson, 2003), we hypothesized that elevated social power is associated with diminished reciprocal emotional responses to another person's suffering (feeling distress at another person's distress) and with diminished complementary emotion (e.g., compassion). In face-to-face conversations, participants disclosed experiences that had caused them suffering. As predicted, participants with a higher sense of power experienced less distress and less compassion and exhibited greater autonomic emotion regulation when confronted with another participant's suffering. Additional analyses revealed that these findings could not be attributed to power-related differences in baseline emotion or decoding accuracy, but were likely shaped by power-related differences in the motivation to affiliate. Implications for theorizing about power and the social functions of emotions are discussed.
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Expressions of sadness and distress can elicit compassion.
“and compassion”
From The Social Effects of Emotions (2022) · cites this paper as Van Kleef et al. 2008
Emotional convergence is asymmetrical between partners with different levels of power, with lower-power partners shifting more toward the emotional experiences of their higher-power partners than vice versa.
“emotional convergence is asymmetrical between partners with different levels of power, with lower-power partners shifting more toward the emotional experiences of their higher-power partners than vice versa”
From The Social Effects of Emotions (2022) · cites this paper as Van Kleef et al. 2008
Lower-power individuals experienced less compassion in response to their partner's distress than higher-power individuals.
“those with lower power experienced less compassion in response to their partner's distress than those with higher power”
From The Social Effects of Emotions (2022) · cites this paper as Van Kleef et al. 2008
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“This conclusion is compatible with recent work on conflict indicating that high-power parties are not insensitive to their opponent’s emotions, but react selectively to these emotions when doing so can further their own goals (Van Kleef & Côté, 2007).”
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“…Piff, Kraus, Côt e, Cheng, & Keltner, 2010), whereas lower SES individuals have been found to be more compassionate (Goetz, Keltner, & Simon-Thomas, 2010; Oveis, Horberg, &Keltner, 2010; Van Kleef et al., 2008; but see also Kornd€orfer, Egloff, & Schmukle, 2015; Smeets, Bauer, & Gneezy, 2015).”
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- Authors
- van Kleef, G. A., Oveis, C., van der Löwe, I., LuoKogan, A., Goetz, J., & Keltner, D.
- Affiliations
- University of Amsterdam
- University of California, Berkeley (US)
- University of California, Berkeley
- Venue
- Psychological Science
- Publisher
- SAGE Publications
- Published
- 2008-12
- Volume
- 19
- Issue
- 12
- Pages
- 1315-1322
- ISSN
- 0956-7976 (ISSN-L)
- 1467-9280
- OpenAlex
- W2109891113
- Cited by
- 482
- References
- 6
- Citations by year
- 2026: 17 · 2025: 25 · 2024: 25 · 2023: 25 · 2022: 27 · 2021: 31 · 2020: 25 · 2019: 58 · 2018: 27 · 2017: 32 · 2016: 33 · 2015: 34 · 2014: 29 · 2013: 24 · 2012: 25
- FWCI
- 52.08
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- handle.uba.uva.nl
- Locations
- Psychological Science (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- UvA-DARE (University of Amsterdam) (submittedVersion, other-oa)
- Data Archiving and Networked Services (DANS) (submittedVersion, other-oa)
- Funders
- Fetzer Institute
- Nederlandse Organisatie voor Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Social Power and Status Dynamics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Emotions and Moral Behavior
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Social and Intergroup Psychology
- Keywords
- social power, compassion, distress, empathy, emotion regulation, autonomic arousal, need for affiliation, social functions of emotion
- MeSH terms
- Adult, Arrhythmia, Sinus, Communication, Electrocardiography, Emotions, Empathy, Female, Humans, Interpersonal Relations, Male, Power, Psychological, Self Disclosure, Social Behavior, Stress, Psychological, Students, United States, Young Adult
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