Abstract
This research assesses the influences of anticipated distress, sadness, and empathy on willingness to be exposed to another's suffering. Subjects were led to expect to listen to a radio broadcast in which they would learn about a person in need. After indicating the distress, sadness, and empathy that they anticipated feeling as a result of listening to the broadcast, subjects indicated their preferences for listening to programs about another person's misfortune, another person's good fortune, and announcements of community events. Results suggest that greater anticipated distress led to greater willingness to be exposed to another's suffering, greater anticipated sadness led to greater preference to be exposed to another's good fortune, and empathy did not influence program preferences. The results support the conceptual distinctions between vicarious distress, sadness, and empathy.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 273-283 |
| Number of pages | 11 |
| Journal | Basic and Applied Social Psychology |
| Volume | 14 |
| Issue number | 3 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - Sep 1993 |
Scopus Subject Areas
- Social Psychology
- Applied Psychology