Will you help me to suffer less? How about to feel more joy? Positive and negative empathy are associated with different other-oriented motivations

Abstract

Although the vast majority of existing work on empathy focuses exclusively on the socio-emotional consequences of empathizing with others' negative emotions, mounting evidence supports the view that empathy for others' negative emotions and empathy for others' positive emotions are distinct capacities. The present work seeks to marry this burgeoning literature on the separability of positive and negative empathy to the influential literature on approach and avoidance motivation by examining how these two distinct empathic capacities relate to the (pro)social motivations to assist others to approach positivity vs. avoid negativity. The results of two studies show that whereas positive empathy is associated with an other-focused motivation to assist others to approach positive outcomes and is predictive of helping only when that help is framed as a means of propelling others toward greater positivity, negative empathy is associated with an other-focused motivation to assist others to avoid negative outcomes and is associated with helping only when that help is framed as a means of assisting others to avoid further suffering. In addition to contributing to the emerging literature on the separability of positive and negative empathy, these results also help to extend the influential approach/avoidance distinction to the domain of other-focused motivation.