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Kopp KS, Kanngiesser P, Brügger RK, Daum MM, Gampe A, Köster M, van Schaik CP, Liebal K, Burkart JM. The proximate regulation of prosocial behaviour: towards a conceptual framework for comparative research. Anim Cogn 2024; 27:5. [PMID: 38429436 PMCID: PMC10907469 DOI: 10.1007/s10071-024-01846-w] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/07/2023] [Revised: 10/14/2023] [Accepted: 11/13/2023] [Indexed: 03/03/2024]
Abstract
Humans and many other animal species act in ways that benefit others. Such prosocial behaviour has been studied extensively across a range of disciplines over the last decades, but findings to date have led to conflicting conclusions about prosociality across and even within species. Here, we present a conceptual framework to study the proximate regulation of prosocial behaviour in humans, non-human primates and potentially other animals. We build on psychological definitions of prosociality and spell out three key features that need to be in place for behaviour to count as prosocial: benefitting others, intentionality, and voluntariness. We then apply this framework to review observational and experimental studies on sharing behaviour and targeted helping in human children and non-human primates. We show that behaviours that are usually subsumed under the same terminology (e.g. helping) can differ substantially across and within species and that some of them do not fulfil our criteria for prosociality. Our framework allows for precise mapping of prosocial behaviours when retrospectively evaluating studies and offers guidelines for future comparative work.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kathrin S Kopp
- Comparative Cultural Psychology, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany.
- Life Sciences, Institute of Biology, Leipzig University, Leipzig, Germany.
- Department of Education and Psychology, Freie Universität Berlin, Berlin, Germany.
| | - Patricia Kanngiesser
- Department of Education and Psychology, Freie Universität Berlin, Berlin, Germany
- School of Psychology, University of Plymouth, Plymouth, UK
| | - Rahel K Brügger
- Department of Evolutionary Anthropology, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
| | - Moritz M Daum
- Department of Psychology, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
- Jacobs Center for Productive Youth Development, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
- Center for the Interdisciplinary Study of Language Evolution, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
| | - Anja Gampe
- Institute of Socio-Economics, University of Duisburg-Essen, Duisburg, Germany
| | - Moritz Köster
- Department of Education and Psychology, Freie Universität Berlin, Berlin, Germany
- Institute of Psychology, University of Regensburg, Regensburg, Germany
| | - Carel P van Schaik
- Department of Evolutionary Biology & Environmental Studies, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
- Center for the Interdisciplinary Study of Language Evolution, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
| | - Katja Liebal
- Life Sciences, Institute of Biology, Leipzig University, Leipzig, Germany
- Department of Education and Psychology, Freie Universität Berlin, Berlin, Germany
| | - Judith M Burkart
- Department of Evolutionary Anthropology, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
- Center for the Interdisciplinary Study of Language Evolution, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
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2
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Zhang M, Wu YE, Jiang M, Hong W. Cortical regulation of helping behaviour towards others in pain. Nature 2024; 626:136-144. [PMID: 38267578 PMCID: PMC10925558 DOI: 10.1038/s41586-023-06973-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/18/2023] [Accepted: 12/13/2023] [Indexed: 01/26/2024]
Abstract
Humans and animals exhibit various forms of prosocial helping behaviour towards others in need1-3. Although previous research has investigated how individuals may perceive others' states4,5, the neural mechanisms of how they respond to others' needs and goals with helping behaviour remain largely unknown. Here we show that mice engage in a form of helping behaviour towards other individuals experiencing physical pain and injury-they exhibit allolicking (social licking) behaviour specifically towards the injury site, which aids the recipients in coping with pain. Using microendoscopic imaging, we found that single-neuron and ensemble activity in the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) encodes others' state of pain and that this representation is different from that of general stress in others. Furthermore, functional manipulations demonstrate a causal role of the ACC in bidirectionally controlling targeted allolicking. Notably, this behaviour is represented in a population code in the ACC that differs from that of general allogrooming, a distinct type of prosocial behaviour elicited by others' emotional stress. These findings advance our understanding of the neural coding and regulation of helping behaviour.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mingmin Zhang
- Department of Neurobiology, David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA
- Department of Biological Chemistry, David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | - Ye Emily Wu
- Department of Neurobiology, David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA
- Department of Biological Chemistry, David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA
- Department of Neurology, David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | - Mengping Jiang
- Department of Neurobiology, David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA
- Department of Biological Chemistry, David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | - Weizhe Hong
- Department of Neurobiology, David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
- Department of Biological Chemistry, David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
- Department of Bioengineering, Samueli School of Engineering, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
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3
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Tomasello M. Differences in the Social Motivations and Emotions of Humans and Other Great Apes. HUMAN NATURE (HAWTHORNE, N.Y.) 2023; 34:588-604. [PMID: 37971576 PMCID: PMC10739453 DOI: 10.1007/s12110-023-09464-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 11/07/2023] [Indexed: 11/19/2023]
Abstract
Humans share with other mammals and primates many social motivations and emotions, but they are also much more cooperative than even their closest primate relatives. Here I review recent comparative experiments and analyses that illustrate humans' species-typical social motivations and emotions for cooperation in comparison with those of other great apes. These may be classified most generally as (i) 'you > me' (e.g., prosocial sympathy, informative and pedagogical motives in communication); (ii) 'you = me' (e.g., feelings of mutual respect, fairness, resentment); (iii) 'we > me' (e.g., feelings of obligation and guilt); and (iv) 'WE (in the group) > me' (e.g., in-group loyalty and conformity to norms, shame, and many in-group biases). The existence of these species-typical and species-universal motivations and emotions provides compelling evidence for the importance of cooperative activities in the human species.
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Affiliation(s)
- Michael Tomasello
- Duke University, Durham, NC, USA.
- Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany.
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4
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Benz-Schwarzburg J, Wrage B. Caring animals and the ways we wrong them. BIOLOGY & PHILOSOPHY 2023; 38:25. [PMID: 37388763 PMCID: PMC10300179 DOI: 10.1007/s10539-023-09913-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/06/2022] [Accepted: 06/16/2023] [Indexed: 07/01/2023]
Abstract
Many nonhuman animals have the emotional capacities to form caring relationships that matter to them, and for their immediate welfare. Drawing from care ethics, we argue that these relationships also matter as objectively valuable states of affairs. They are part of what is good in this world. However, the value of care is precarious in human-animal interactions. Be it in farming, research, wildlife 'management', zoos, or pet-keeping, the prevention, disruption, manipulation, and instrumentalization of care in animals by humans is ubiquitous. We criticize a narrow conception of welfare that, in practice, tends to overlook non-experiential forms of harm that occur when we interfere with caring animals. Additionally, we point out wrongs against caring animals that are not just unaccounted for but denied by even an expansive welfare perspective: The instrumentalization of care and caring animals in systems of use can occur as a harmless wrong that an approach purely focused on welfare may, in fact, condone. We should therefore adopt an ethical perspective that goes beyond welfare in our dealings with caring animals.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Birte Wrage
- Messerli Research Institute, University of Veterinary Medicine Vienna, Vienna, Austria
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5
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Chen YQ, Han S, Yin B. Why help others? Insights from rodent to human early childhood research. Front Behav Neurosci 2023; 17:1058352. [PMID: 37025110 PMCID: PMC10070705 DOI: 10.3389/fnbeh.2023.1058352] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/30/2022] [Accepted: 03/06/2023] [Indexed: 04/08/2023] Open
Abstract
Helping behavior are actions aiming at assisting another individual in need or to relieve their distress. The occurrence of this behavior not only depends on automated physiological mechanisms, such as imitation or emotional contagion, that is, the individual's emotion and physiological state matching with others, but also needs motivation to sustain. From a comparative and developmental perspective, we discover that the motivation for helping behavior has a deep foundation both phylogenetically and ontogenetically. For example, empathic concern for others, relieving personal distress and the desire for social contact are universal motivations across rodents, non-human primates and human early childhoods. Therefore, a circle-layered model integrating evidences for motivation for helping behavior from rodent to human early childhood research is proposed: the inner circle contains the emotional-behavioral system and the outer circle contains the affective-cognitive system. The application of this model has significance for both behavioral neuroscience research and cultivating prosocial behavior in human society.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ya-Qin Chen
- Laboratory of Learning and Behavioral Sciences, School of Psychology, Fujian Normal University, Fuzhou, Fujian, China
| | - Shu Han
- Laboratory of Learning and Behavioral Sciences, School of Psychology, Fujian Normal University, Fuzhou, Fujian, China
| | - Bin Yin
- Laboratory of Learning and Behavioral Sciences, School of Psychology, Fujian Normal University, Fuzhou, Fujian, China
- Department of Applied Psychology, School of Psychology, Fujian Normal University, Fuzhou, Fujian, China
- *Correspondence: Bin Yin,
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Wu YE, Hong W. Neural basis of prosocial behavior. Trends Neurosci 2022; 45:749-762. [PMID: 35853793 PMCID: PMC10039809 DOI: 10.1016/j.tins.2022.06.008] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/17/2022] [Revised: 06/22/2022] [Accepted: 06/27/2022] [Indexed: 01/10/2023]
Abstract
The ability to behave in ways that benefit other individuals' well-being is among the most celebrated human characteristics crucial for social cohesiveness. Across mammalian species, animals display various forms of prosocial behaviors - comforting, helping, and resource sharing - to support others' emotions, goals, and/or material needs. In this review, we provide a cross-species view of the behavioral manifestations, proximate and ultimate drives, and neural mechanisms of prosocial behaviors. We summarize key findings from recent studies in humans and rodents that have shed light on the neural mechanisms underlying different processes essential for prosocial interactions, from perception and empathic sharing of others' states to prosocial decisions and actions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ye Emily Wu
- Department of Neurobiology and Department of Biological Chemistry, David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA
| | - Weizhe Hong
- Department of Neurobiology and Department of Biological Chemistry, David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA.
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7
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Verspeek J, van Leeuwen EJC, Laméris DW, Stevens JMG. Self-interest precludes prosocial juice provisioning in a free choice group experiment in bonobos. Primates 2022; 63:603-610. [PMID: 35947244 DOI: 10.1007/s10329-022-01008-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/03/2021] [Accepted: 08/01/2022] [Indexed: 10/15/2022]
Abstract
Previous studies on prosociality in bonobos have reported contrasting results, which might partly be explained by differences in experimental contexts. In this study, we implement a free choice group experiment in which bonobos can provide fruit juice to their group members at a low cost for themselves. Four out of five bonobos passed a training phase and understood the setup and provisioned fruit juice in a total of 17 dyads. We show that even in this egalitarian group with a shallow hierarchy, the majority of pushing was done by the alpha female, who monopolized the setup and provided most juice to two adult females, her closest social partners. Nonetheless, the bonobos in this study pushed less frequently than the chimpanzees in the original juice-paradigm study, suggesting that bonobos might be less likely than chimpanzees to provide benefits to group members. Moreover, in half of the pushing acts, subjects obtained juice for themselves, suggesting that juice provisioning was partly driven by self-regarding behavior. Our study indicates that a more nuanced view on the prosocial food provisioning nature of bonobos is warranted but based on this case study, we suggest that the observed sex differences in providing food to friends corresponds with the socio-ecological sex difference in cooperative interactions in wild and zoo-housed bonobos.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jonas Verspeek
- Behavioural Ecology and Ecophysiology Group, Department of Biology, University of Antwerp, Universiteitsplein 1, Antwerp (Wilrijk), 2610, Antwerp, Belgium. .,Centre for Research and Conservation, Royal Zoological Society of Antwerp, K. Astridplein 26, 2018, Antwerp, Belgium.
| | - Edwin J C van Leeuwen
- Behavioural Ecology and Ecophysiology Group, Department of Biology, University of Antwerp, Universiteitsplein 1, Antwerp (Wilrijk), 2610, Antwerp, Belgium.,Centre for Research and Conservation, Royal Zoological Society of Antwerp, K. Astridplein 26, 2018, Antwerp, Belgium
| | - Daan W Laméris
- Behavioural Ecology and Ecophysiology Group, Department of Biology, University of Antwerp, Universiteitsplein 1, Antwerp (Wilrijk), 2610, Antwerp, Belgium.,Centre for Research and Conservation, Royal Zoological Society of Antwerp, K. Astridplein 26, 2018, Antwerp, Belgium
| | - Jeroen M G Stevens
- Behavioural Ecology and Ecophysiology Group, Department of Biology, University of Antwerp, Universiteitsplein 1, Antwerp (Wilrijk), 2610, Antwerp, Belgium.,Centre for Research and Conservation, Royal Zoological Society of Antwerp, K. Astridplein 26, 2018, Antwerp, Belgium.,SALTO, Agro- and Biotechnology, Odisee University College, Sint-Niklaas, Belgium
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8
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Wrage B. Caring animals and care ethics. BIOLOGY & PHILOSOPHY 2022; 37:18. [PMID: 35637869 PMCID: PMC9135829 DOI: 10.1007/s10539-022-09857-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/25/2022] [Revised: 05/09/2022] [Accepted: 05/15/2022] [Indexed: 06/15/2023]
Abstract
Are there nonhuman animals who behave morally? In this paper I answer this question in the affirmative by applying the framework of care ethics to the animal morality debate. According to care ethics, empathic care is the wellspring of morality in humans. While there have been several suggestive analyses of nonhuman animals as empathic, much of the literature within the animal morality debate has marginalized analyses from the perspective of care ethics. In this paper I examine care ethics to extract its core commitments to what is required for moral care: emotional motivation that enables the intentional meeting of another's needs, and forward-looking responsibility in particular relationships. What is not required, I argue, are metarepresentational capacities or the ability to scrutinize one's reasons for action, and thus being retrospectively accountable. This minimal account of moral care is illustrated by moral practices of parental care seen in many nonhuman animal species. In response to the worry that parental care in nonhuman animals lacks all evaluation and is therefore nonmoral I point to cultural differences in human parenting and to normativity in nonhuman animals.
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Affiliation(s)
- Birte Wrage
- Unit of Ethics and Human-Animal Studies, Messerli Research Institute, Vetmeduni Vienna, Uni Vienna, MedUni Vienna, Vienna, Austria
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9
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Verspeek J, van Leeuwen EJC, Laméris DW, Staes N, Stevens JMG. Adult bonobos show no prosociality in both prosocial choice task and group service paradigm. PeerJ 2022; 10:e12849. [PMID: 35178297 PMCID: PMC8815371 DOI: 10.7717/peerj.12849] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/07/2021] [Accepted: 01/07/2022] [Indexed: 01/10/2023] Open
Abstract
Previous studies reported contrasting conclusions concerning bonobo prosociality, which are likely due to differences in the experimental design, the social dynamics among subjects and characteristics of the subjects themselves. Two hypotheses have been proposed to explain the occurrence of prosociality in animals: the cooperative breeding hypothesis and the self-domestication hypothesis. While the former predicts low levels of prosociality in bonobos because they are non-cooperative breeders, the latter predicts high levels of prosociality because self-domestication has been proposed to select for high levels of tolerance in this species. Here, we presented a group of thirteen bonobos with two platform food-provisioning tasks: the prosocial choice task (PCT) and the group service paradigm (GSP). The latter has so far never been applied to bonobos. To allow for free choice of participation and partner, we implemented both tasks in a group setting. Like in previous PCT studies, bonobos did not choose the prosocial option more often when a group member could benefit vs not benefit. In the GSP, where food provisioning is costly, only subadult bonobos showed a limited amount of food provisioning, which was much lower than what was previously reported for chimpanzees. In both experiments, adult subjects were highly motivated to obtain rewards for themselves, suggesting that bonobos behaved indifferently to the gains of group members. We suggest that previous positive food-provisioning prosociality results in bonobos are mainly driven by the behaviour of subadult subjects. The lack of prosociality in this study corresponds to the hypothesis that proactive food provisioning co-occurs with cooperative breeding and suggests that proactive prosociality might not be part of the self-domestication syndrome in bonobos.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jonas Verspeek
- Centre for Research and Conservation, Royal Zoological Society of Antwerp, Antwerp, Belgium,Behavioural Ecology and Ecophysiology Group, Department of Biology, University of Antwerp, Wilrijk, Belgium
| | - Edwin J. C. van Leeuwen
- Centre for Research and Conservation, Royal Zoological Society of Antwerp, Antwerp, Belgium,Behavioural Ecology and Ecophysiology Group, Department of Biology, University of Antwerp, Wilrijk, Belgium
| | - Daan W. Laméris
- Centre for Research and Conservation, Royal Zoological Society of Antwerp, Antwerp, Belgium,Behavioural Ecology and Ecophysiology Group, Department of Biology, University of Antwerp, Wilrijk, Belgium
| | - Nicky Staes
- Centre for Research and Conservation, Royal Zoological Society of Antwerp, Antwerp, Belgium,Behavioural Ecology and Ecophysiology Group, Department of Biology, University of Antwerp, Wilrijk, Belgium
| | - Jeroen M. G. Stevens
- Centre for Research and Conservation, Royal Zoological Society of Antwerp, Antwerp, Belgium,Behavioural Ecology and Ecophysiology Group, Department of Biology, University of Antwerp, Wilrijk, Belgium,SALTO, Agro- and Biotechnology, Odisee University College, Brussels, Belgium
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10
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Gilbert P. Compassion: From Its Evolution to a Psychotherapy. Front Psychol 2020; 11:586161. [PMID: 33362650 PMCID: PMC7762265 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2020.586161] [Citation(s) in RCA: 87] [Impact Index Per Article: 21.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/22/2020] [Accepted: 10/20/2020] [Indexed: 12/16/2022] Open
Abstract
The concept, benefits and recommendations for the cultivation of compassion have been recognized in the contemplative traditions for thousands of years. In the last 30 years or so, the study of compassion has revealed it to have major physiological and psychological effects influencing well-being, addressing mental health difficulties, and promoting prosocial behavior. This paper outlines an evolution informed biopsychosocial, multicomponent model to caring behavior and its derivative "compassion" that underpins newer approaches to psychotherapy. The paper explores the origins of caring motives and the nature and biopsychosocial functions of caring-attachment behavior. These include providing a secure base (sources of protection, validation, encouragement and guidance) and safe haven (source of soothing and comfort) for offspring along with physiological regulating functions, which are also central for compassion focused therapy. Second, it suggests that it is the way recent human cognitive competencies give rise to different types of "mind awareness" and "knowing intentionality" that transform basic caring motives into potentials for compassion. While we can care for our gardens and treasured objects, the concept of compassion is only used for sentient beings who can "suffer." As psychotherapy addresses mental suffering, cultivating the motives and competencies of compassion to self and others can be a central focus for psychotherapy.
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Affiliation(s)
- Paul Gilbert
- Centre for Compassion Research and Training, College of Health and Social Care Research Centre, University of Derby, Derby, United Kingdom
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11
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Engelmann JM, Haux LM, Herrmann E. Helping in young children and chimpanzees shows partiality towards friends. EVOL HUM BEHAV 2019. [DOI: 10.1016/j.evolhumbehav.2019.01.003] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/27/2022]
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12
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Hepach R, Warneken F. Editorial overview: Early development of prosocial behavior: Revealing the foundation of human prosociality. Curr Opin Psychol 2018; 20:iv-viii. [PMID: 29510908 DOI: 10.1016/j.copsyc.2018.02.001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/18/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Robert Hepach
- Department of Research Methods in Early Child Development, Leipzig University, 04109 Leipzig, Germany.
| | - Felix Warneken
- Department of Psychology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA.
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