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Compassion is the response to the suffering of others that motivates a desire to help.〔(Compassion ) Merriam-Webster Dictionary (2011)〕〔Sherlyn Jimenez, see article on ''Compassion'', The Encyclopedia of Positive Psychology, Volume I, Editor: Shane Lopez, Wiley-Blackwell, ISBN 978-1-4051-6125-1〕 Compassion motivates people to go out of their way to help physical, spiritual, or emotional hurts or pains of another. Compassion is often regarded as having an emotional aspect to it, though when based on cerebral notions such as fairness, justice and interdependence, it may be considered rational in nature and its application understood as an activity based on sound judgment. There is also an aspect of compassion which regards a quantitative dimension, such that individual's compassion is often given a property of "depth," "vigour," or "passion." The etymology of "compassion" is Latin, meaning "co-suffering." More involved than simple empathy, compassion commonly gives rise to an active desire to alleviate another's suffering.〔 Compassion is often, though not inevitably, the key component in what manifests in the social context as altruism. In ethical terms, the expressions down the ages of the so-called Golden Rule often embodies by implication the principle of compassion: ''Do to others what you would have them do to you''.〔Matthew 7:12〕 The English noun ''compassion'', meaning ''to love together with'', comes from Latin. Its prefix ''com-'' comes directly from ''com'', an archaic version of the Latin preposition and affix cum (= with); the ''-passion'' segment is derived from ''passus'', past participle of the deponent verb patior, patī, passus sum. Compassion is thus related in origin, form and meaning to the English noun patient (= one who suffers), from ''patiens'', present participle of the same patior, and is akin to the Greek verb πάσχειν (= ''paskhein'', to suffer) and to its cognate noun πάθος (= pathos). Ranked a great virtue in numerous philosophies, compassion is considered in almost all the major religious traditions as among the greatest of virtues. == Theories == Three theoretical perspectives of compassion have been proposed, which are contrasted by their predictions and approaches of compassion. : * Compassion as a synonym of empathic distress, which is characterized by the feeling of distress in connection with another person's suffering. This perspective of compassion is based on the finding that people sometimes emulate and feel the emotions of people around them. : * Compassion is simply a variation of love or sadness, not a distinct emotion. : * From the perspective of evolutionary psychology, Compassion can be viewed as a distinct emotional state, which can be differentiated from distress, sadness, and love. Identifying with another person is an essential process for human beings. It is commonly seen throughout the world as people adapt and change with new styles of clothing, language, behavior, etc., which is illustrated by infants who begin to mirror the facial expressions and body movements of their mother as early as the first days of their lives. This process is highly related to compassion because sympathizing with others is possible with people from other countries, cultures, locations, etc. A possible source of this process of identifying with others comes from a universal category called "Spirit." Toward the late 1970s, very different cultures and nations around the world took a turn to religious fundamentalism, which has occasionally been attributed to "Spirit." The more one person knows about the human condition and the associated experiences is another route to identification. The importance of identifying with others for compassion is contrasted by the negative physical and psychological effects of abandonment. Compassion seems to be characteristic of democratic societies.〔 The role of compassion as a factor contributing to individual or societal behavior has been the topic of continuous debate. In contrast to the process of identifying with other people, a complete absence of compassion may require ignoring or disapproving identification with other people or groups.〔 This concept has been illustrated throughout history: The Holocaust, Genocide, European colonization of the Americas, etc. The seemingly essential step in these atrocities could be the defining of the victims as "not human" or "not us." The atrocities committed throughout human history have only been relieved through the presence of compassion.〔 Suffering has been defined as the perception of a person's impending destruction or loss of integrity, which continues until the threat is gone or the person's integrity can be restored.〔 Personality psychology agrees that people are inherently different and distinct from one another, which should lead to the conclusion that human suffering is always individual and unique. Suffering can result from psychological, social, and physical trauma. It appears to happen in acute forms as often as chronically.〔 There is an inherent difficulty in knowing that someone else is suffering because of its lonely nature, which leads to the conclusion that many people may not know they are suffering. They may instead point to their external circumstances with the early stages of suffering being quiet or not discussed. The later stages may involve the person expressing their victimization and searching for help. Compassion is recognized through identifying with other people, the knowledge of human behavior, the perception of suffering, transfer of feelings, knowledge of goal and purpose changes in sufferers, and the absence of the sufferer from a group.〔 Earlier studies established the links between interpersonal violence and animal cruelty.〔Frank R. Ascione, Phil Arkow Child abuse, domestic violence, and animal abuse: linking the circles of compassion for prevention and intervention ISBN 1-55753-142-0〕〔Randall Lockwood, Frank R. Ascione. Cruelty to Animals and Interpersonal Violence. Purdue University Press, 1998〕 Compassion may have the ability to induce feelings of kindness and forgiveness, which could give people the ability to stop situations that occasionally lead to violence. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Compassion」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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