Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jun 26, 2025

Observational Fear as a Model of Affective Empathy in Mice
Published on: November 22, 2024
The pattern theory of compassion
Shaun Gallagher1, Antonino Raffone2, Salvatore M Aglioti3
1Department of Philosophy, University of Memphis, Memphis, TN, USA; School of Liberal Arts (SOLA), University of Wollongong, Wollongong, NSW, Australia.
Abstract:
Concepts of empathy, sympathy and compassion are often confused in a variety of literatures. This article proposes a pattern-theoretic approach to distinguishing compassion from empathy and sympathy. Drawing on psychology, Western philosophy, affective neuroscience, and contemplative science, we clarify the nature of compassion as a specific pattern of dynamically related factors that include physiological, cognitive, and affective processes, relational/intersubjective processes, and motivational/action tendencies. We also show that the dynamic nature of the compassion pattern is reflected in neuroscientific findings, as well as in compassion practice. The pattern theory of compassion allows us to make several clear distinctions between compassion, empathy, and sympathy.
More Related Videos
11:12Modulation of the Neurophysiological Response to Fearful and Stressful Stimuli Through Repetitive Religious Chanting
Published on: November 4, 2021
06:42Continuous Theta Burst Stimulation of the Posterior Medial Frontal Cortex to Experimentally Reduce Ideological Threat Responses
Published on: September 28, 2018
Related Concept Videos
Empathy
The Scientific Method
Egoism and Altruism
Techniques of therapeutic communication I: Active Listening, Sharing Observations, Validation, and Using Touch
Therapeutic communication is not the same as social interaction. Social interaction has no goal or purpose and consists of casual information sharing, whereas therapeutic communication has a plan or purpose for the conversation. Therapeutic...
Physiological Theories: Cannon-Bard Theory of Emotion
Upon perceiving a stimulus, such as a dangerous...
Psychodynamic Therapy