Empathic motivation: A new perspective on empathy deficit

Being social animals, humans live with others on a daily basis, which cannot be separated from sharing and understanding the thoughts and feelings of others, as well as carrying out appropriate emotional responses, commonly known as empathy. When empathy is absent, the consequences can be substantial, with prior work linking low empathy to aggression, bullying, social prejudice, and personality pathology. Traditionally, empathy deficits have been interpreted primarily as failures of empathic ability, meaning limited capacity to perceive, understand, or share others' states. However, recent studies have found that people who can empathize may still choose not to do so, particularly when empathy is experienced as effortful, costly, or misaligned with situational goals, highlighting the importance of empathic motivation. In this review, we synthesize recent advances that position empathic motivation as a complementary perspective for understanding empathy deficits. Specifically, we (i) explain why empathic motivation offers a new perspective on empathy deficits; (ii) clarify the distinctions and connections among empathic ability, empathic motivation, and traditional empathy frameworks; (iii) propose a potential processing mechanism underlying empathic motivation; (iv) discuss how insights from motivational research can inform the design of empathy interventions; and (v) outline future directions for research on empathic motivation.