Compassion fade: affect and charity are greatest for a single child in need.

Compassion fade: affect and charity are greatest for a single child in need.

Charitable giving in 2013 exceeded $300 billion, but why do we respond to some life-saving causes while ignoring others? In our first two studies, we demonstrated that valuation of lives is associated with affective feelings (self-reported and psychophysiological) and that a decline in compassion ma...

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Main Authors: Daniel Västfjäll, Paul Slovic, Marcus Mayorga, Ellen Peters
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Public Library of Science (PLoS) 2014-01-01
Series:PLoS ONE
Online Access:http://europepmc.org/articles/PMC4062481?pdf=render
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spelling doaj-a28aef5111ea4430afc952a749a3c1802020-11-25T01:23:40ZengPublic Library of Science (PLoS)PLoS ONE1932-62032014-01-0196e10011510.1371/journal.pone.0100115Compassion fade: affect and charity are greatest for a single child in need.Daniel VästfjällPaul SlovicMarcus MayorgaEllen PetersCharitable giving in 2013 exceeded $300 billion, but why do we respond to some life-saving causes while ignoring others? In our first two studies, we demonstrated that valuation of lives is associated with affective feelings (self-reported and psychophysiological) and that a decline in compassion may begin with the second endangered life. In Study 3, this fading of compassion was reversed by describing multiple lives in a more unitary fashion. Study 4 extended our findings to loss-frame scenarios. Our capacity to feel sympathy for people in need appears limited, and this form of compassion fatigue can lead to apathy and inaction, consistent with what is seen repeatedly in response to many large-scale human and environmental catastrophes.http://europepmc.org/articles/PMC4062481?pdf=render
collection DOAJ
language English
format Article
sources DOAJ
author Daniel Västfjäll
Paul Slovic
Marcus Mayorga
Ellen Peters
spellingShingle Daniel Västfjäll
Paul Slovic
Marcus Mayorga
Ellen Peters
Compassion fade: affect and charity are greatest for a single child in need.
PLoS ONE
author_facet Daniel Västfjäll
Paul Slovic
Marcus Mayorga
Ellen Peters
author_sort Daniel Västfjäll
title Compassion fade: affect and charity are greatest for a single child in need.
title_short Compassion fade: affect and charity are greatest for a single child in need.
title_full Compassion fade: affect and charity are greatest for a single child in need.
title_fullStr Compassion fade: affect and charity are greatest for a single child in need.
title_full_unstemmed Compassion fade: affect and charity are greatest for a single child in need.
title_sort compassion fade: affect and charity are greatest for a single child in need.
publisher Public Library of Science (PLoS)
series PLoS ONE
issn 1932-6203
publishDate 2014-01-01
description Charitable giving in 2013 exceeded $300 billion, but why do we respond to some life-saving causes while ignoring others? In our first two studies, we demonstrated that valuation of lives is associated with affective feelings (self-reported and psychophysiological) and that a decline in compassion may begin with the second endangered life. In Study 3, this fading of compassion was reversed by describing multiple lives in a more unitary fashion. Study 4 extended our findings to loss-frame scenarios. Our capacity to feel sympathy for people in need appears limited, and this form of compassion fatigue can lead to apathy and inaction, consistent with what is seen repeatedly in response to many large-scale human and environmental catastrophes.
url http://europepmc.org/articles/PMC4062481?pdf=render
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AT paulslovic compassionfadeaffectandcharityaregreatestforasinglechildinneed
AT marcusmayorga compassionfadeaffectandcharityaregreatestforasinglechildinneed
AT ellenpeters compassionfadeaffectandcharityaregreatestforasinglechildinneed
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