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. 2024 Apr;13(2):322-334.
doi: 10.1002/pchj.720. Epub 2023 Dec 17.

Moderate similarity leads to empathic concern, but high similarity can also induce personal distress towards others' pain

Bruno M Salles  1 , João V Fadel  1 , Daniel C Mograbi  1   2
Affiliations

Moderate similarity leads to empathic concern, but high similarity can also induce personal distress towards others' pain

Bruno M Salles et al. Psych J. 2024 Apr.

Abstract

Empathic concern and personal distress are common vicarious emotional responses that arise when witnessing someone else's pain. However, the influence of perceived similarity on these responses remains unclear. In this study, we examined how perceived similarity with an injured target impacts vicarious emotional responses. A total of 87 participants watched a video of an athlete in pain preceded by a clip describing the athlete's trajectory, which indicated either high, moderate, or low similarity to the participants. Emotional self-reports, facial expressions, gaze behavior, and pupil diameter were measured as indicators of the participants' emotional responses. Participants in the moderate- and high-similarity groups exhibited greater empathic concern, as evidenced by their display of more sadness compared with those in the low-similarity group. Furthermore, those in the moderate-similarity group exhibited less avoidance by displaying reduced disgust, indicating lower personal distress compared with those in the low-similarity condition. Nevertheless, the high-similarity group displayed just as much disgust as the low-similarity group. These findings suggest that perceived similarity enhances empathic concern to others' suffering, but that high similarity can also lead to personal distress. Future studies on empathy should explore distinct vicarious states using multimodal measurements to further advance our understanding of these processes.

Keywords: compassion; empathy; facial action coding system; pain; sympathy.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

Figures

FIGURE 1
FIGURE 1
Sequence of the procedures by condition.
FIGURE 2
FIGURE 2
Frequency of facial displays of emotions by condition. Bar plots indicate means and standard errors. (A) Experimental target emotions (sadness, disgust); (B) control emotions (anger, fear). *p < .05; †p = .052. Informed consent was obtained from participants to use their images in publications.
FIGURE 3
FIGURE 3
Heat maps and clusters of fixation time by condition. Moderate‐similarity condition (left). Low‐similarity condition (right). (A) Face in pain. (B) Injured arm.
FIGURE 4
FIGURE 4
Pupil diameter (post‐pre) by condition. Bar plots indicate means and standard errors. *p < .05.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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