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Do All Types of Compassion Increase Prosocial Lying?
Xu Fang1,2,3,4, Lixiang Chen1,2,3,4, Jie Wang1,2,3,4
1School of Psychology, South China Normal University, Guangzhou 510631, China.
Psychology Research and Behavior Management
|June 18, 2020
Summary
Compassion for other's survival in suffering (COSS) significantly increases prosocial lying, while compassion for other's development in suffering (CODS) has a lesser effect. This distinction is crucial for understanding compassion's influence on honesty.
Area of Science:
- Psychology
- Social Psychology
- Moral Psychology
Background:
- Prior research indicates compassion generally promotes prosocial lying.
- This study differentiates between two forms of compassion: compassion for other's survival in suffering (COSS) and compassion for other's development in suffering (CODS).
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate whether COSS and CODS differentially impact prosocial lying.
- To explore the psychological mechanisms underlying these effects.
Main Methods:
- Three studies were conducted, involving participants evaluating texts before and after experiencing emotions.
- Study 3 specifically examined moral conflicts between prosociality and truth-telling.
Main Results:
- Both COSS and CODS increased prosocial lying, but COSS had a significantly stronger effect.
- Individuals with low trait compassion in the COSS condition showed more prosocial lying than high trait compassion individuals in the CODS condition.
- Study 3 confirmed COSS significantly increased prosocial lying, whereas CODS did not.
Conclusions:
- COSS and CODS represent distinct types of compassion with differing impacts on prosocial lying.
- These findings contribute to the theoretical understanding of compassion and its effects on ethical behavior.
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