Sympathy

Sympathy is an other-focused complex moral emotion or emotional experience that involves a shared understanding of and response to the suffering or misfortune of others. It frequently arises alongside feelings of sorrow, pity, or compassion, combined with a desire to ease their suffering. Sympathy, while primarily an emotional response, encompasses cognitive, affective, and behavioural components. This multifaceted emotion serves as a moral compass, motivating individuals to go beyond self-interest and engage in prosocial behaviour and moral actions.

At its core, sympathy emerges when we perceive another person’s hardships and feel emotionally moved by them. This emotional resonance is paired with cognitive appraisal, in which we recognise the other person’s situation as distressing and deserving of support. Unlike empathy, which involves sharing another person’s emotions, sympathy maintains emotional distance. This enables individuals to offer help without becoming overwhelmed by the emotional state of others.

Because sympathy focuses on the well-being of others, it is closely tied to moral judgement. For example, people may sympathise with individuals who are victims of unfair events or discrimination, leading them to advocate for change or offer help. Sympathy can also inform judgments about moral responsibility. When people are perceived as deserving of sympathy, it may lead others to believe that they should not be blamed for their hardships.

Sympathy inspires a caring attitude, motivating individuals to react to others’ distress with acts of kindness, assistance, or comfort. In its compassionate form, it helps cultivate collective responsibility. This moral and emotional foundation can extend to political action, where sympathy encourages individuals to help marginalised groups and advocate for justice and policy change. Solidarity movements, such as those for civil rights, gender equality, or refugee rights, often begin with sympathy for victims of oppression, inequality, or human rights violations, transforming into compassionate collective action.

Sympathy appeals usually inspire short-term responses, such as donations or petitions. To foster longer and deeper commitments, it is important to promote repetitive messaging, a culture of solidarity, and strong moral identities. In short, sympathy deepens emotional bonds within groups, strengthens feelings of shared responsibility, and motivates collective action to alleviate others’ suffering. MORES is currently exploring the role of sympathy in society.

FURTHER READING:

Malbois E. (2023). What is Sympathy? Understanding the Structure of Other-Oriented Emotions. Emotion Review, 15(1), 85–95.

Caouette, J., & Price, C. (Eds.). (2018). The moral psychology of compassion. Rowman & Littlefield.

Szabó, G., & Lipiński, A. (2024). Sympathy with Ukraine (or not so much)! Emotion-based solidarity in the political communication of the Polish and Hungarian Prime Ministers. American Behavioral Scientist, 0(0). https://doi.org/10.1177/00027642241240357