
Management Papers
Document Type
Journal Article
Date of this Version
2015
Publication Source
Journal of Personality and Social Psychology
Volume
108
Issue
4
Start Page
610
Last Page
622
DOI
10.1037/pspi0000012
Abstract
The current research found that participants who had previously endured an emotionally distressing event (e.g., bullying) more harshly evaluated another person’s failure to endure a similar distressing event compared with participants with no experience enduring the event or those currently enduring the event. These effects emerged for naturally occurring (Studies 1, 3, and 4) and experimentally induced (Study 2) distressing events. This effect was driven by the tendency for those who previously endured the distressing event to view the event as less difficult to overcome (Study 3). Moreover, we demonstrate that the effect is specific to evaluations of perceived failure: Compared with those with no experience, people who previously endured a distressing event made less favorable evaluations of an individual failing to endure the event, but made more favorable evaluations of an individual managing to endure the event (Study 4). Finally, we found that people failed to anticipate this effect of enduring distress, instead believing that individuals who have previously endured emotionally distressing events would most favorably evaluate others’ failures to endure (Study 5). Taken together, these findings present a paradox such that, in the face of struggle or defeat, the people we seek for advice or comfort may be the least likely to provide it.
Copyright/Permission Statement
© 2016 American Psychological Association. This paper is not the copy of record and may not exactly replicate the authoritative document published in the APA journal. Please do not copy or cite without author's permission. The final article is available, upon publication, at: http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/pspi0000012
Keywords
affect, social judgment, hot–cold empathy gap, life events, compassion
Recommended Citation
Ruttan, R. L., McDonnell, M., & Nordgern, L. F. (2015). Having "Been There" Doesn't Mean I Care: When Prior Experience Reduces Compassion for Emotional Distress. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 108 (4), 610-622. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/pspi0000012
Date Posted: 19 February 2018
This document has been peer reviewed.