Abstract
This chapter offers a conceptual framework for the role of emotions and empathy in the desire and choice to alleviate suffering. Because the locus of the suffering (self, other, or social) may change the role of emotions in suffering, they are discussed collectively and separately. The structure of the empathy process is outlined in ten steps or phases, including emotional resonance and self-regulation. This larger perspective on empathy encompasses shared experience as well as the potential for compassion and altruism. Mindfulness is discussed in terms of its role in readiness for the alleviation of suffering through exercises in resonance and self-regulation. The chapter ends by showing how emotional processes can apply to large-scale social suffering and the potential they hold for contributing to even broader relief.
Keywords
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
Anderson, R. E. (2013, August). The emotions of suffering. Paper presented at the International Society for Research on Emotion meetings in Berkeley, CA.
Anderson, R. E. (2014). Human suffering and quality of life: Conceptualizing stories and statistics. New York: Springer.
Barbalet, J. M. (2001). Emotion, social theory, and social structure: A macrosociological approach. Cambridge: University Press.
Bashir, N. Y., Lockwood, P., Chasteen, A. L., Nadolny, D., & Noyes, I. (2013). The ironic impact of activists: Negative stereotypes reduce social change influence. European Journal of Social Psychology, 43(7), 614–626.
Batson, C. D. (1990). How social an animal: The human capacity for caring. American Psychologist, 45(3), 336–346.
Cameron, D. C., & Payne, B. K. (2011). Escaping affect: How motivated emotion regulation creates insensitivity to mass suffering. Attitudes and Social Cognition, 100(1), 1–15.
Carlo, G., Crockett, L. J., Wolff, J. M., & Beal, S. J. (2012). The role of emotional reactivity, self-regulation, and puberty in adolescents’ prosocial behaviors. Social Development, 21(4), 667–685.
Cassel, E. (1991, May-June). Recognizing suffering. The Hastings Center Report, 21(3), 24–32.
Cassell, E. J. (2004). The nature of suffering and the goals of medicine. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Condon, P., Desbordes, G., Miller, W. B., & DeSteno, D. (2013). Meditation increases compassionate responses to suffering. Psychological Science, 24(10), 2125–2127.
Dalai Lama. (2003). The compassionate life. Boston: Wisdom Publications.
Davidson, R. J., & Begley, S. (2012). The Emotional Life of Your Brain: How its unique patterns affect the way you think, feel, and live–and how you can change them. London: Penguin.
de Rivera, J. (2006). Conceptual encounter: The experience of anger. In C. T. Fischer (Ed.), Qualitative research methods for psychologists: Introduction through empirical studies (pp. 213–245). Available online: http://www.clarku.edu/faculty/derivera/PDFs/Ch.8_Conceptual_Encounter-_The_Experience_of_Anger.pdf
de Rivera, J., Kurrien, R., & Olsen, N. (2007). The emotional climate of nations and their culture of peace. Journal of Social Issues, 63(2), 255–271.
Decety, J., & Jackson, P. L. (2004). The functional architecture of human empathy. Behavioral and Cognitive Neuroscience Reviews, 3, 71–100.
Decety, J., & Jackson, P. L. (2006). A social-neuroscience perspective on empathy. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 15(2), 54–58.
Dekeyser, M., Raes, F., Leijssen, M., Leysen, S., & Dewulf, D. (2008). Mindfulness skills and interpersonal behavior. Personality and Individual Differences, 44, 1235–1245.
Eisenberg, N. (2000). Emotion, regulation, and moral development. Annual Review of Psychology, 51, 665–697.
Eisenberg, N. (2002). Empathy related emotional responses, altruism, and their socialization. In R. J. Davidson & A. Harrington (Eds.), Visions of compassion (pp. 131–164). Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Eisenberger, N., Lieberman, M., & Williams, K. (2003). Does rejection hurt? An FMRI study of social exclusion. Science (New York, N.Y.), 302(5643), 290–292.
Ekman, P. (Ed.). (2008). Emotional awareness, overcoming the obstacles to psychological balance and compassion: A conversation between the Dalai Lama and Paul Ekman. New York: Times Books.
Elfenbein, H. A., & Ambady, N. (2002). On the universality and cultural specificity of emotion recognition: A meta-analysis. Psychological Bulletin, 128(2), 203–235.
Figley, C. R. (Ed.). (1995). Compassion fatigue: Coping with secondary traumatic stress disorder in those who treat the traumatized (Psychology, 39, pp. 649–665). London: Brunner-Routledge.
Franks, D. D. (2008). The neurosociology of emotions. In J. E. Stets & J. H. Turner (Eds.), Handbook of the sociology of emotions (pp. 38–62). New York: Springer.
Fredrickson, B. L. (2001). The role of positive emotions in positive psychology: The broaden-and-build theory of positive emotions. American Psychologist, 56(3), 218–226.
Geangu, E. (2011). Individual differences in infant’s emotional resonance to a peer in distress: Self-other awareness and emotion regulation. Social Development, 20(3). doi:10.1111/j.1467-9507.2010.00596.x
Hawkley, L. C., Burleson, M. H., Berntson, G. G., & Cacioppo, J. T. (2003). Loneliness in everyday life: Cardiovascular activity, psychosocial context, and health behaviors. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 85(1), 105.
Höijer, B. (2004). The discourse of global compassion: The audience and media reporting of human suffering. Media, Culture & Society, 26(4), 513–531.
Holzel, B. K., Lazar, S. W., Gard, T., Schuman-Oliver, Z., Vago, D. R., & Ott, U. (2011). How does mindfulness meditation work? Perspectives on Psychological Science, 6(6), 537–559.
Jaffe, E. (2011, October). The complicated psychology of revenge. Observer, 24(8). Available online: http://www.psychologicalscience.org/index.php/publications/observer/2011/october-11/the-complicated-psychology-of-revenge.html
Jaffe, E. (2012, November). Positively negative: Research shows there’s an up side to feeling down. Observer 25(9). Available online: http://www.psychologicalscience.org/index.php/publications/observer/2012/november-12/positively-negative.html
Johnston, N. E. (2015). Healing suffering: The evolution of caring practices. In R. E. Anderson (Ed.), World suffering and quality of life. New York: Springer.
Kabat-Zinn, J. (1990). Full catastrophe living. New York: Bantam Dell.
Kitron, D. (2011). Empathy – The indispensable ingredient in the impossible profession. Psychoanalytic Inquiry, 31, 17–27.
Kleinman, A., Das, V., & Lock, M. (1996). Introduction. Daedulus, 125(1), 1–5.
Lerner, J. S., & Keltner, D. (2001). Fear, anger, and risk. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 81(1), 146–159.
Mahoney, C. O. (2008). Transcending the limits of compassion: The influence of joy on reactions to the suffering of distant others. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, Clark University, Worcester.
Miller, K., Birkholt, M., Scott, C., & Stage, C. (1995). Empathy and burnout in human service work: An extension of a communication model. Communication Research, 22(2), 123–147.
Morton, A. (2013). Emotion and imagination. New York: Polity.
Neff, K. (2011). Self-compassion: Stop beating yourself up and leave insecurity behind. New York: HarperCollins.
Paciello, M., Fida, R., Cerniglia, L., Tramontano, C., & Cole, E. (2013). High cost helping scenario: The role of empathy, prosocial reasoning and moral disengagement on helping behavior. Personality and Individual Differences, 55, 3–7.
Pinker, S. (2011). Better angels of our nature: Why violence has declined. New York: Penguin.
Salerno, J. M., & Peter-Hagene, L. C. (2013). The interactive effect of anger and disgust on moral outrage and judgments. Psychological Science, 24(10), 2069–2078.
Seligman, M. E. P. (2011). Flourish: A visionary new understanding of happiness and well-being. New York: The Free Press.
Siegel, R. D. (2010). The mindfulness solution – Everyday practices for everyday problems. New York: Guilford Press.
Slovic, P. (2007). “If I look at the mass I will never act”: Psychic numbing and genocide. Judgment and Decision Making, 2, 79–95. Retrieved April 24, 2007, from http://journal.sjdm.org/vol2.2.htm
Small, D. A., Lowenstein, G., & Slovic, P. (2007). Sympathy and callousness: Affect and deliberations in donation decisions. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 102, 143–153.
Stocks, E. L., Lishner, D. A., & Decker, S. K. (2009). Altruism or psychological escape: Why does empathy promote prosocial behavior? European Journal of Social, 39, 649–665.
Sznaider, N. (2015). Compassion, cruelty and human rights. In R. E. Anderson (Ed.), World suffering and quality of life. New York: Springer.
Tippett, K. (Host/Executive Producer). (2013, May 9). Sylvia Boorstein – What we nurture. [Audio podcast]. Retrieved from http://www.onbeing.org/
Vago, D. R., & Silbersweig, D. A. (2012). Self-awareness, self-regulation, and self-transcendence (S-ART): A framework for understanding the neurobiological mechanisms of mindfulness. Frontiers in Human Neuroscience, 6(296). doi:10.3389/fnhum.2012.00296 – See more at: http://journal.frontiersin.org/Journal/10.3389/fnhum.2012.00296/abstract#sthash.oZ9jzDyZ.dpuf
Van Dijk, W. W., Ouwerkerk, J. W., Van Koningsbruggen, G. M., & Wesseling, Y. M. (2012). “So you wanna be a pop star?” Schadenfreude following another’s misfortune on TV. Basic and Applied Social Psychology, 34, 168–174.
Wilkinson, I. (2015). Social suffering and critical humanitarianism. In R. E. Anderson (Ed.), World suffering and quality of life. New York: Springer.
Wiseman, T. (1996). A concept analysis of empathy. Journal of Advanced Nursing, 23, 1162–1167.
Young, M. P. (2001). A revolution of the soul: Transformative experiences and immediate abolition. In J. Goodwin, J. M. Jasper, & F. Polletta (Eds.), Passionate politics: Emotions and social movements. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2015 Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Mahoney, C.O., Harder, L.M. (2015). Emotions, Empathy, and the Choice to Alleviate Suffering. In: Anderson, R. (eds) World Suffering and Quality of Life. Social Indicators Research Series, vol 56. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-017-9670-5_31
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-017-9670-5_31
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht
Print ISBN: 978-94-017-9669-9
Online ISBN: 978-94-017-9670-5
eBook Packages: Humanities, Social Sciences and LawSocial Sciences (R0)