"Kindness" is a general, everyday term describing behaviors that
involve being friendly, generous, or considerate. "Pro-social" is the term favored by scientists to refer to kind, helpful behaviors or states, but it is also quite broad. Below are definitions of more specific terms that relate to these general qualities. Understanding them, and the differences between them, is important to understanding the science that we cover in Week 3. Compassion: Literally means to suffer together. Among emotion researchers, it is defined as the feeling that arises when you witness anothers suffering and feel motivated to help relieve that suffering. Compassion is not the same as empathy or altruism, though the concepts are related. While empathy refers more generally to our ability to sense the emotions--and/or take the perspective-- of another person, compassion is when those feelings and thoughts include the desire to help. While altruism is often prompted by compassion, one can feel compassion without acting on it, and altruism isnt always motivated by compassion. Altruism: Altruism is when we act to promote someone elses welfare, even at a risk or cost to ourselves. Many debate whether and why true (or "pure") altruism actually exists. Evolutionary scientists speculate that altruism has deep roots in human nature because helping and cooperation promote the survival of our species. Indeed, Darwin himself argued that altruism, which he called sympathy or benevolence, is an essential part of the social instincts. Some evolutionary biologists argue that organisms may sometimes put themselves at risk in order to help another because they expect that the other organism will return the favor down the line, a concept known as "reciprocal altruism." Empathy: As Emiliana explained last week, the term empathy is used to describe a wide range of experiences. Emotion researchers generally
define empathy as the ability to sense other peoples emotions
("affective empathy"), coupled with the ability to imagine what someone else might be thinking or feeling ("cognitive empathy"). Studies suggests that empathy is often a vital first step toward altruistic behavior, but it does not always lead to altruism, and altruistic acts can be motivated by factors other than empathy. More specifically, research by Daniel Batson and others suggests that empathy is much more likely to lead to altruism when it elicits the specific feeling of "empathic concern," which is when we observe someone in need and truly "feel for" that person--a state similiar to compassion--rather than wanting to escape the situation or feeling overwhelmed by distress. Pity: Feeling sorry for the suffering or misfortune of someone else. Pity is similar to compassion, but it suggests a power imbalance, whereby the observer occupies a place of superiority and looks down upon the person who is suffering.