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“I help because I want to, not because you tell me to”: empathy increases autonomously motivated helping

journal contribution
posted on 2023-06-08, 11:54 authored by Louisa Jane Pavey, Tobias Greitemeyer, Paul Sparks
Empathetic arousal has been found to be a strong predictor of helping behavior. However, research has neglected the motivational mechanisms whereby empathetic concern elicits help giving. Three studies examined the extent to which autonomous and controlled motives for helping mediated the relationship between empathy and helping. Study 1 found that state empathy predicted willingness to offer time and money to help a person in need, with this relationship mediated by autonomous motivation for helping. Study 2 demonstrated that dispositional, empathetic concern predicted prosocial intentions and behavior via the mediation of autonomous motivation. Study 3 revealed that participants who focused on the emotions of another person in distress reported greater willingness to help than did participants who remained emotionally detached, with this effect mediated by autonomous motivation to help. Controlled motivation had no positive effects on helping in any of the studies. The results suggest that empathy encourages prosocial behavior by increasing autonomous motivation to help.

History

Publication status

  • Published

Journal

Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin

ISSN

0146-1672

Publisher

SAGE Publications

Issue

5

Volume

38

Page range

681-689

Department affiliated with

  • Psychology Publications

Full text available

  • No

Peer reviewed?

  • Yes

Legacy Posted Date

2012-06-29

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    University of Sussex (Publications)

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