Clarifying the construct of compassion: ability to downregulate emotion as a potential mediator between empathic arousal and compassion
| dc.contributor.author | Merriman, Leslie A., author | |
| dc.contributor.author | Rickard, Kathryn, advisor | |
| dc.contributor.author | Allen, Chris, committee member | |
| dc.contributor.author | Chavez, Ernest, committee member | |
| dc.contributor.author | Souza, Caridad, committee member | |
| dc.date.accessioned | 2017-06-09T15:41:16Z | |
| dc.date.available | 2017-06-09T15:41:16Z | |
| dc.date.issued | 2017 | |
| dc.description.abstract | The association between empathy and compassion was examined in a sample of Americans aged 35 to 86, using national survey and phone interview data, biological data, and neuropsychological data. Given the postulation that empathy is a necessary, but not sufficient, condition for compassion to emerge, compassion is conceptualized here as an emergent process that is contingent upon empathic arousal. The degree to which an experience of empathic arousal translates into compassion is hypothesized to depend upon an individual's ability to downregulate the emotional response associated with empathic arousal, which is conceptualized as physiological upregulation in response to witnessing another's suffering. If this hypothesis is supported, then the ability to downregulate physiological processes associated with empathic arousal should mediate a positive association between the activation of empathic feelings and engagement with compassionate behavior. While empathic arousal was found to predict compassion, we were unable to infer that downregulation processes mediated the relationship. The results of this study present preliminary findings that may inform future work aiming to clarify the construct of compassion. The results may also provide useful groundwork for future work about "compassion fatigue" and about how the emergence of compassionate action in therapeutic interactions can be cultivated. | |
| dc.format.medium | born digital | |
| dc.format.medium | doctoral dissertations | |
| dc.identifier | Merriman_colostate_0053A_14118.pdf | |
| dc.identifier.uri | http://hdl.handle.net/10217/181390 | |
| dc.language | English | |
| dc.language.iso | eng | |
| dc.publisher | Colorado State University. Libraries | |
| dc.relation.ispartof | 2000-2019 | |
| dc.rights | Copyright and other restrictions may apply. User is responsible for compliance with all applicable laws. For information about copyright law, please see https://libguides.colostate.edu/copyright. | |
| dc.subject | compassion | |
| dc.subject | empathy | |
| dc.subject | compassion fatigue | |
| dc.subject.lcsh | Buddhism | |
| dc.title | Clarifying the construct of compassion: ability to downregulate emotion as a potential mediator between empathic arousal and compassion | |
| dc.type | Text | |
| dcterms.rights.dpla | This Item is protected by copyright and/or related rights (https://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/). You are free to use this Item in any way that is permitted by the copyright and related rights legislation that applies to your use. For other uses you need to obtain permission from the rights-holder(s). | |
| thesis.degree.discipline | Psychology | |
| thesis.degree.grantor | Colorado State University | |
| thesis.degree.level | Doctoral | |
| thesis.degree.name | Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) |
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