Peer-Reviewed CCARE Articles - The Center for Compassion and Altruism Research and EducationThe Center for Compassion and Altruism Research and Education ‹

Published research supported by CCARE scientists.

Since its inception, CCARE has supported and collaborated on a number of groundbreaking research projects that have resulted in cross-disciplinary publications on the science of compassion. Below, please find a list of our publications with a summary of their findings.

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Peer Review is a process of self-regulation by a profession or a process of evaluation involving qualified individuals within the relevant field. Peer review methods are employed to maintain standards, improve performance and provide credibility. In academia peer review is often used to determine an academic paper’s suitability for publication.

Genevsky, A., & Knutson, B. (2015). Neural affective mechanisms predict market-level microlending. Psychological Science. Advance online publication. doi:10.1177/0956797615588467

Researchers investigate the neural mechanisms in which microloans receive approval based on the elicitation of positive affect by applicant’s photographs in two separate studies: one internet and the other a neuroimaging study. The internet study showed that positive affect in applicant photographs promoted loan success. The neuroimaging study further extended the internet findings by showing lender’s active regions in the brain where positive emotions are closely associated with, the nucleus accumbens, as well as self-reported positive affect by lenders who approved loans for those applicants who had high ratings of eliciting positive emotions. Implications for the role of affective neuroscience in microlending success and market-level behaviors are discussed.

Jazaieri, H., Lee, I. A., McGonigal, K., Jinpa, T., Doty, J. R., Gross, J. J., & Goldin, P. (2015). A wandering mind is a less caring mind: Daily experience sampling during compassion meditation training. Journal of Positive Psychology. doi:10.1080/17439760.2015.1025418

The effects of the Compassion Cultivation Training (CCT) program, a 9-week, twice daily compassion meditation, was found to reduce mind wandering towards neutral thoughts and increased caring behaviors for oneself. Further path analysis indicated that compassion meditation was associated with reduced mind wandering for unpleasant thoughts and increased mind wandering to pleasant thoughts, and that both were associated with increased caring behavior for oneself and others. This is the first known study to lend partial support that formal compassion training reduces mind wandering while increasing caring behavior not only for oneself but also for others.

Neff, K., & Seppala, E. M. (in press). Compassion, well-being, and the hypoegoic self. In K. W. Brown & M. Leary (Eds.), Handbook of Hypo-egoic Phenomena.

Seppala, E. M., Hutcherson, C. A., Nguyen, D. T. H., Doty, J. R., & Gross, J. J. (2014). Loving-kindness meditation: A tool to improve healthcare provider compassion, resilience, and patient care. Journal of Compassionate Healthcare. doi:10.1186/s40639-014-0005-9

Stress and burnout is prevalent in the healthcare industry. Numerous research focused on reducing these strains on healthcare professionals can be time-consuming and intensive. Thus, this study sought to investigate the effectiveness of a short, 10- minute compassion-inducing intervention, lovingkindness meditation (LKM), to attempt to address this obvious disconnected need for a short, non-intensive, and effective intervention. LKM was compared to a positive affect induction (self-focus) and a neutral control condition. Ten minutes of LKM showed increased explicit as well as implicit levels of well-being and feelings of social connection to others and decreased focus on the self. Implications for decreasing burnout and improving patient care is discussed.

Martin, D., Seppala, E., Heineberg, Y., Rossomando, T., Doty, J., Zimbardo, P., Shiue, T.-T., Berger, R., & Zhou, Y. Y. (2015). Multiple facets of compassion: The impact of social dominance orientation and economic systems justification. Journal of Business Ethics, 129(1), 237-249. doi:10.1007/s10551-014-2157-0

Social Dominance Orientation (SDO) is a hierarchical worldview that ascribes people to social rankings and is often found in high levels among business school students. To establish the relationship between individual differences in compassion, SDO, and free ESJ (Economic Systems Justification), partial correlations were run controlling for social desirability to response bias. As anticipated, a significant correlation between ESJ and SDO was established. Significant correlations between SDO and low levels of Self-Compassion supported the hypotheses that those with higher levels of SDO have lower levels of self-compassion.

Seppälä, E. M., Nitschke, J. B., Tudorascu, D. L., Hayes, A., Goldstein, M. R., Nguyen, D. T. H., Perlman, D., & Davidson, R. J. (2014). Breathing-based meditation decreases posttraumatic stress disorder symptoms in U.S. military veterans: A randomized controlled longitudinal study. Journal of Traumatic Stress, 27, 397–405. doi:10.1002/jts.21936

This study examined the effects of a breathing-based meditation intervention, Sudarshan Kriya yoga, on PTSD outcome variables in U.S. male veterans of the Iraq or Afghanistan war. Laboratory measures of eye-blink startle and respiration rate were obtained before and after the intervention, as were self-report symptom measures. The active group showed reductions in PTSD scores, anxiety symptoms, and respiration rate, but the control group did not. Reductions in startle correlated with reductions in hyperarousal symptoms immediately postintervention. This longitudinal intervention study suggests there may be clinical utility for Sudarshan Kriya yoga for PTSD.

Feinberg, M., Antonenko, O., Willer, R., Horberg, E. J., & John, O. P. (2014). Gut check: Reappraisal of disgust helps explain liberal-conservative differences on issues of purity. Emotion, 14(3), 513-521. doi:10.1037/a0033727

In a series of three studies, this article examines the extent to which the emotion-regulation strategy, reappraisal, drives the disgust-conservatism relationship. This article presents evidence that conservatives instructed to reappraise their reactions to a video of men-kissing subsequently expressed more support for same-sex marriage than conservatives in the control condition.

Feinberg, M., & Willer, R. (2013). The moral roots of environmental attitudes. Psychological Science, 24(1), 56-62. doi:10.1177/0956797612449177

This article highlights three studies on the attitudes Americans have about the environment and examines the causes that lead to the political polarization of environmental issues. The first of the three studies found that liberals consider the environment issues in moral terms. The second study found that environmental discourse found in newspaper op-eds and public-service announcements is framed in moral concern centered on harm and care, which is a belief more embraced by liberals. The third study found that by reframing proenvironmental rhetoric in terms of purity, a different moral value embraced by conservatives, reduced the political polarization. This provides evidence for a need to reframe environmental discourse in different moral terms to reduce political polarization of environmental issues.

Gunaydin, L. A., Grosenick, L., Finkelstein, J. C., Kauvar, I. V., Fenno, L. E., Adhikari, A., Lammel, S., Mirzabekov, J. J., Airan, R. D., Zalocusky, K. A., Tye, K. M., Anikeeva, P., Malenka, R. C., & Deisseroth, K. (2014). Natural neural projection dynamics underlying social behavior. Cell, 157(7), 1535-1551. doi:10.1016/j.cell.2014.05.017

This study applied fiber photometry to elucidate circuit level pathways of endogenous neural activity during social interaction. Results revealed the activity dynamic of the ventral tegmental area (VTA) to nucleus accumbens (NAc) could encode and predict key features of social interaction. The study found that the optogenetic control of cells specifically contributing to this projection was sufficient to modulate social behavior, which was mediated by type 1 dopamine receptors signaling downstream in the NAc.

Ruchelli, G., Chapin, H., Darnall, B., Seppala, E., Doty, J., & Mackey, S. (2014). Compassion meditation training for people living with chronic pain and their significant others: a pilot study and mixed-methods analysis. The Journal of Pain, 15(4), S117. doi:10.1016/j.jpain.2014.01.479

A pilot study of limited female participants with chronic pain who received 9, two-hour weekly sessions of compassion meditation training (Compassion Cultivation Training or CCT). Pre- and post self-reports were completed by participants with chronic pain as well as their significant other. It was hypothesized that not only participants with chronic pain would receive benefits from CCT but also the benefits would extend to their significant other without actually going through the training themselves. Participants with chronic pain reported a significant reduction in pain severity and anger and an increase in well-being indicators such as self-acceptance and environmental mastery; however, only a reduced trend was found for anger in significant others.

Feinberg, M., Willer, R., & Schultz, M. (2014). Gossip and ostracism promote cooperation in groups. Psychological Science, 25(3), 656-665. doi:10.1177/0956797613510184

This study examined how gossip promotes cooperation among groups while preventing exploitation of ostracized individuals. The excluded individuals, in turn, respond by cooperating at levels comparable to those of non-ostracized individuals. The study suggests that gossip promotes prosocial behavior due to reputation saliency.

Genevsky, A., Västfjäll, D., Slovic, P., & Knutson, B. (2013). Neural underpinnings of the identifiable victim effect: Affect shifts preferences for giving. The Journal of Neuroscience, 33(43), 17188-17196. doi:10.1523/JNEUROSCI.2348-13.2013

This study measured compassion and giving at the level of brain function. The investigators found that emotional reaction toward the recipient impacted the neural and behavioral correlates of giving. In particular, the more people could relate to someone in need (by identifying their physical features) and the more positively participants felt toward someone in need, the more likely they were to want to give to them.

Seppala, E., Rossomando, T., & Doty, J. (2013). Social connection and compassion: Important predictors of health and well-being. Social Research, 80(2), 411-430. doi:10.1353/sor.2013.0027

Several decades of research on social connection now confirm that social connection is linked to a substantial number of psychological and physical health benefits as well as longer survival rates. Despite its importance, sociological research suggests that social connection is waning at an alarming rate in modern American society. In view of the importance of social connection as a human motivator and determinant of well-being, the authors present social connection’s benefits for health, well-being and behavior as well as the detrimental effects of loneliness and give an overview about potential ways to increase social connection through the cultivation of compassion.

Jazaieri, H., McGonigal, K., Jinpa, T., Doty, J. R., Gross, J. J., & Golden, P. R. (2013). A randomized controlled trial of compassion cultivation training: Effects on mindfulness, affect, and emotion regulation. Motivation and Emotion, 38, 23-35. doi: 10.1007/s11031-013-9368-z

Researchers compared the effects of a 9-week compassion cultivation training (CCT) program to a wait-list (WL) control group on mindfulness, affect, and emotion regulation. Compared to WL, CCT resulted in increased mindfulness and happiness, as well as decreased worry and emotional suppression. Implications for cognitive and emotion factors in relation to psychological well-being are discussed.

Berger, R., Gelkopf, M., & Heineberg, Y. (2012). A teacher-delivered intervention for adolescents exposed to ongoing and intense traumatic war-related stress: A quasi-randomized controlled study. Journal of Adolescent Health, 51, 453–461. doi:10.1016/j.jadohealth.2012.02.011

This study compared a stress-reduction intervention (ERASE-stress) to a wait-list control in 154 Israeli middle school children, half of whom had symptoms of war-related trauma. The active group showed a significant reduction in self-reported trauma-related symptoms (anxiety, post-traumatic stress, somatic symptoms and functional impairment).

Koopmann-Holm, B., Sze, J., Ochs, C., & Tsai, J. L. (2013). Buddhist-inspired meditation increases the value of calm. Emotion, 13(3), 497-505. doi:10.1037/a0031070

This study measured the “actual” and “ideal” affects of meditation. The participants hoped to feel more calm and less excited after meditating. After eight weeks the meditation group reported feeling more calm; however, there were no differences between them and the two control groups in ideal or actual excitement. The findings suggest that meditation increases the ideal affect of calmness but not actual affect.

Simon-Thomas, E. R., Godzik, J., Castle, E., Antonenko, E., Ponz, A., Kogan, A., & Keltner, D. J. (2012). An fMRI study of caring vs. self-focus during induced compassion and pride. Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience, 7(6), 635-648. doi:10.1093/scan/nsr045

This study compared brain regions activated during compassion, an other-oriented emotion, to brain regions activated during pride, a more self-focused emotion. Slides were used to induce either compassion or pride and emotions were measured using fMRI. Compassion was associated with activity in the “empathy network,” regions of the brain responsible for pain and the perception of others’ pain as well as parental nurturing behaviors. Pride, on the other hand, was associated with activity in regions associated with thoughts about oneself.

Jazaieri, H., Jinpa, G., McGonigal, K., Rosenberg, E., Finkelstein, J., Simon-Thomas, E., Cullen, M., Doty, J., Gross, J., & Goldin, P. (2012). Enhancing compassion: A randomized controlled trial of a Compassion Cultivation Training program. Journal of Happiness Studies, 14, 1113-1126. doi:10.1007/s10902-012-9373-z

This study measured the impact of a compassion training program on fear of compassion and self-compassion. Furthermore, the study asked whether compassion can be trained and cultivated. Participants filled out questionnaires before and after a 9-week Compassion Cultivation Training (CCT) program. The scientists observed a decrease in fear of compassion and an increase in self-compassion. The data also suggest that certain elements of compassion can be cultivated through training.

Berger, R. & Zimbardo, P. (2012). Creating a partner: A qualitative study of political extremists and ex-gang members who have chosen the antiviolence path. Retrieved from The Council on Foreign Relations website: http://www.cfr.org/radicalization-and-extremism/save-supporting-document-creating-partner/p26892

This study looks at the determinants of the ‘psychological code’ of former extremists: former gang members and former extremist Israelis and Palestinians. The study examines factors leading these previously violent groups of people towards reconciliation by examining three theoretical perspectives: dispositional, characterological, and interactionalist. It was found that the interactionalist model may be the best to explain transitions from violent extremism to reconciliation and peacekeeping activity. The interactionalist model argues that prosocial behavior is determined by predispositions equally along with situational and cultural factors.

Dastjerdi, M., Foster, B. L., Nasrullah, S., Rauschecker, A. M., Dougherty, R. F., Townsend, J. D., Chang, C., Greicius, M. D., Menon, V., Kennedy, D. P., & Parvizi, J. (2011). Differential electrophysiological response during rest, self-referential, and non–self-referential tasks in human posteromedial cortex. Proceedings of the National Academy Of Sciences, 108(7), 3023-3028. doi:10.1073/pnas.1017098108

This study examined activation in the human posteromedial cortex, a region of the brain also called the “default mode network.” Electrophysiological measurements of the DMN during rest and while thinking about oneself were used and it was found that different regions of the DMN were activated during rest vs. during thoughts about the self. This region is activated during rest as well as during thoughts about oneself and is de-activated during activity directed outward. Researchers have speculated that its activation during rest signifies activation of thoughts about oneself during rest.

Yizhar, O., Fenno, L. E., Prigge, M., Schneider, F., Davidson, T. J., O’Shea, D. J., Sohal, V. S., Goshen, I., Finkelstein, J., Paz, J. T., Stehfest, K., Fudim, R., Ramakrishnan, C., Huguenard, J. R., Hegemann, P., & Deisseroth, K. (2011). Neocortical excitation/inhibition balance in information processing and social dysfunction. Nature, 477(7363), 171-178. doi:10.1038/nature10360

Severe behavioral deficits in psychiatric diseases such as autism and schizophrenia have been hypothesized to arise from elevations in the cellular balance of excitation and inhibition (E/I balance) within microcircuitry in the brain. This novel study used optogenetic tools to investigate this hypothesis in freely moving mammals, and to explore the associated circuit physiology. Elevation, but not reduction, of cellular E/I balance within the mouse medial prefrontal cortex was found to elicit a profound impairment in cellular information processing, associated with specific behavioral impairments and increased high-frequency power in the 30–80 Hz range, which have both been observed in clinical conditions in humans. Consistent with the E/I balance hypothesis, the opposite thereof partially rescued social deficits caused by E/I balance elevation. These results provide support for the elevated cellular E/I balance hypothesis of severe neuropsychiatric disease-related symptoms.

Bocchiaro, P. & Zimbardo, P. G. (2010). Defying unjust authority: An exploratory study. Current Psychology, 29(2), 155-170. doi: 10.1007/s12144-010-9080-z

This study examined disobedience in the face of unjust authority. Participants were asked to give increasingly hostile comments to a participant/victim whenever he failed a trial. In order to better understand some of the cognitive and affective processes that may predict such defiant behavior, we utilized a variety of measures, among them, behavioral observations, individual difference assessments, and in-depth post-experimental interviews. Although 30% of the sample followed commands to insult the other participant (confederate), the majority refused to do so at some point in the escalating hostility sequence. The procedure utilized conditions known from prior research to increase the ratio of disobedience to obedience such as proximity of teacher to learner.

Goetz, J. L., Keltner, D., & Simon-Thomas, E. (2010). Compassion: An evolutionary analysis and empirical review. Psychological Bulletin, 136(3), 351-374. doi:10.1037/a0018807

This study aimed to answer the questions: What is compassion? And how did it evolve?
This review article integrates three evolutionary arguments that converge on the hypothesis that compassion evolved as a distinct emotional experience whose primary function is to facilitate cooperation and protection of the weak and those who suffer. Compassion elicits distinct thought processes tuned toward undeserved suffering; distinct behavior related to caregiving patterns of touch, posture, and vocalization; and a phenomenological experience and physiological response that orients the individual to social approach. This response profile of compassion differs from those of distress, sadness, and love, suggesting that compassion is indeed a distinct emotion. The article concludes by considering how compassion shapes moral judgment and action, how it varies across different cultures, and how it may engage specific patterns of neural activation, as well as emerging directions of research.

Cooper, J. C., Kreps, T. A., Wiebe, T., Pirkl, T., & Knutson, B. (2010). When giving is good: Ventromedial prefrontal cortex activation for others’ intentions. Neuron, 67(67), 511-521. doi:10.1016/j.neuron.2010.06030

This study examined whether brain regions associated with judging other people’s intentions would react differently in the face of altruistic versus selfish motives. Participants took part in an economic game during functional magnetic resonance imaging. When the game was described in terms of donations, ventromedial prefrontal cortex (VMPFC) activation increased for inferring generous play and decreased for inferring selfish play.