Conceptualizing and Experiencing Compassion

摘要: Does compassion feel pleasant or unpleasant? Westerners tend to categorize as a positive emotion, but laboratory inductions, which present another's suffering, may elicit unpleasant feelings. Across two studies, we examined whether prototypical conceptualizations of (as pleasant) differ from experiences unpleasant). After laboratory-based neutral participants made abstract judgments about relative various emotion-related adjectives, thereby providing conceptualization compassion. Participants also rated their own affective states, indicating Conceptualizations were across and inductions. exposure others' however, felt increased levels affect, not affect. reported more than with moderate Thus, are pleasant, can unpleasant. The implications for emotion theory in general discussed.