The Oxford Handbook of Compassion Science

by Emma M. Seppälä, Emiliana Simon-Thomas, Stephanie L. Brown, Monica C. Worline, C. Daryl Cameron

Overview

How do we define compassion? Is it an emotional state, a motivation, a dispositional trait, or a cultivated attitude? How does it compare to altruism and empathy? Chapters in this Handbook present critical scientific evidence about compassion in numerous conceptions. All of these approaches to thinking about compassion are valid and contribute importantly to understanding how we respond to others who are suffering.

Covering multiple levels of our lives and self-concept, from the individual, to the group, to the organization and culture, The Oxford Handbook of Compassion Science gathers evidence and models of compassion that treat the subject of compassion science with careful scientific scrutiny and concern. It explores the motivators of compassion, the effect on physiology, the co-occurrence of wellbeing, and compassion training interventions. Sectioned by thematic approaches, it pulls together basic and clinical research ranging across neurobiological, developmental, evolutionary, social, clinical, and applied areas in psychology such as business and education. In this sense, it comprises one of the first multidisciplinary and systematic approaches to examining compassion from multiple perspectives and frames of reference.

With contributions from well-established scholars as well as young rising stars in the field, this Handbook bridges a wide variety of diverse perspectives, research methodologies, and theory, and provides a foundation for this new and rapidly growing field. It should be of great value to the new generation of basic and applied researchers examining compassion, and serve as a catalyst for academic researchers and students to support and develop the modern world.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780190464684
Publisher:	Oxford University Press
Publication date:	10/24/2017
Series:	Oxford Library of Psychology
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	552
Product dimensions:	7.10(w) x 10.20(h) x 1.40(d)

About the Author

Emma M. Seppälä, PhD, is Science Director of the Center for Compassion and Altruism Research and Education (CCARE) at Stanford University School of Medicine and Co-Director of the Yale College Emotional Intelligence Project at the Yale Center for Emotional Intelligence. She is the author of The Happiness Track: How to Apply the Science of Happiness to Accelerate Your Success (2016).

Emiliana Simon-Thomas, PhD, is the Science Director at UC Berkeley's Greater Good Science Center (GGSC). Among other initiatives, she runs the GGSC Research Fellowship program and co-instructs GG101x: The Science of Happiness.

Stephanie L. Brown, PhD, is an Associate Professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at Stony Brook University. She was the lead editor on the edited volume Moving Beyond Self-Interest: Perspectives from Evolutionary Biology, Neuroscience, and the Social Sciences (OUP 2011).

Monica C. Worline, PhD, is a research scientist at the Center for Compassion and Altruism Research and Education and Executive Director of CompassionLab. She is also the founder and CEO of EnlivenWork.

Daryl Cameron, PhD, is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychology and the Rock Ethics Institute at Penn State University.

James R. Doty, MD, is the founder and director of the Center for Compassion and Altruism Research and Education. He is a professor in the Department of Neurosurgery at Stanford University School of Medicine and the New York Times bestselling author of Into the Magic Shop: A Neurosurgeon's Quest to Discover the Mysteries of the Brain and the Secrets of the Heart (2016).

Table of Contents

Preface
James R. Doty
Part One: Introduction
Chapter 1: The Landscape of Compassion: Definitions and Scientific Approaches
Jennifer L. Goetz and Emiliana Simon-Thomas
Chapter 2: Compassion in Context: Tracing the Buddhist Roots of Secular, Compassion-Based Contemplative Programs
Brooke D. Lavelle
Chapter 3: The Empathy-Altruism Hypothesis: What and So What?
C. Daniel Batson
Chapter 4: Is Global Compassion Achievable?
Paul Ekman and Eve Ekman
Part Two: Developmental Approaches
Chapter 5: Compassion in Children
Tracy L. Spinrad and Nancy Eisenberg
Chapter 6: Parental Brain: The Crucible of Compassion
James E. Swain and S. Shaun Ho
Chapter 7: Adult Attachment and Compassion: Normative and Individual Difference Components
Mario Mikulincer and Phillip R. Shaver
Chapter 8: Compassion-Focused Parenting
James N. Kirby
Part Three: Psychophysiological and Biological Approaches
Chapter 9: The Compassionate Brain
Olga M. Klimecki and Tania Singer
Chapter 10: Two Factors that Fuel Compassion: The Oxytocin System and the Social Experience of Moral Elevation
Sarina Rodrigues Saturn
Chapter 11: The Impact of Compassion Meditation Training on the Brain and Prosocial Behavior
Helen Y. Weng, Brianna Schuyler, and Richard J. Davidson
Chapter 12: Cultural neuroscience of compassion and empathy
Joan Y. Chiao
Chapter 13: Compassionate Neurobiology and Health
Stephanie L. Brown and R. Michael Brown
Chapter 14: The Roots of Compassion: An Evolutionary and Neurobiological Perspective
C. Sue Carter, Inbal Ben-Ami Bartal, and Eric C. Porges
Chapter 15: Vagal pathways: Portals to Compassion
Stephen W. Porges
Part Four: Compassion Interventions
Chapter 16: Empathy Building Interventions: A Review of Existing Work and Suggestions for Future Directions
Erika Weisz and Jamil Zaki
Chapter 17: Studies of Training Compassion: What Have We Learned, What Remains Unknown?
Alea C. Skwara, Brandon G. King, and Clifford D. Saron
Chapter 18: The Compassion Cultivation Training (CCT) Program
Philippe R. Goldin and Hooria Jazaieri
Chapter 19: From Specific to General: The Biological Effects of Cognitively-Based Compassion Training
Jennifer Mascaro, Lobsang Tenzin Negi, and Charles L. Raison
Part Five: Social Psychological and Sociological Approaches
Chapter 20: Compassion Collapse: Why We Are Numb to Numbers
C. Daryl Cameron
Chapter 21: The Cultural Shaping of Compassion
Birgit Koopman-Holm and Jeanne L. Tsai
Chapter 22: Enhancing compassion: Social psychological perspectives
Paul Condon and David DeSteno
Chapter 23: Empathy, compassion, and social relationships
Mark H. Davis
Chapter 24: The Class-Compassion Gap: How Socioeconomic Factors Influence Compassion
Paul K. Piff and Jake P. Moskowitz
Chapter 25: Changes Over Time in Compassion-Related Variables in the United States
Sasha Zarins and Sara Konrath
Chapter 26: To Help or Not to Help: Goal Commitment and the Goodness of Compassion
Michael J. Poulin
Part Six: Clinical Approaches
Chapter 27: Self-Compassion and Psychological Well-being
Kristin Neff and Christopher Germer
Chapter 28: Compassion Fatigue Resilience
Charles R. Figley and Kathleen Regan Figley
Chapter 29: Compassion Fears, Blocks and Resistances: An Evolutionary Investigation
Paul Gilbert and Jennifer Mascaro
Part Seven: Applied Compassion
Chapter 30: Organizational Compassion: Manifestations Through Organizations
Kim Cameron
Chapter 31: How Leaders Shape Compassion Processes in Organizations
Monica C. Worline and Jane E. Dutton
Chapter 32: Compassion in Healthcare
Sue Shea and Christos Lionis
Chapter 33: A Call for Compassion and Care in Education: Toward a More Comprehensive ProSocial Framework for the Field
Brooke D. Lavelle, Lisa Flook, and Dara G. Ghahremani
Chapter 34: Heroism: Social Transformation Through Compassion in Action
Philip G. Zimbardo, Emma Seppälä, and Zeno Franco
Chapter 35: Social Dominance and Leadership: The mediational effect of Compassion
Daniel Martin and Yotam Heineberg
Index

Editorial Reviews

"A comprehensive and brilliant collection of essays on the contours of compassion."

— Joan Halifax, PhD, Abbott, Upaya Zen Center

"This is a masterpiece of comprehensive clarity about a profound and sometimes murky subject-compassion-that is particularly relevant to our world today. Carefully edited, thoroughly referenced, and spanning a wide range of topics, the chapters within it come from world-class experts who summarize what's known and then break new ground. With many practical implications, this is one of the rare scholarly books that both educates the mind and lifts the heart."

— Rick Hanson, PhD, author of Buddha's Brain: The Practical Neuroscience of Happiness, Love, and Wisdom

"The collection provides a fascinating prism of inter- and transdisciplinary exploration of compassion, and is a valuable source for researchers in wide array of academic fields. This is an enchanting read for anyone wishing to understand the essential role of compassion in the everyday encounters between individuals in organizations of different sizes, but also in pondering better-functioning societal structures."

—Anne Birgitta Pessi, Director of Projects CoPassion and CoCare, and Professor Church and Social Studies, University of Helsinki

"A ground-breaking integration of behavioral, social, and biological perspectives on compassion. This volume debuts a new field at the consilience of moral philosophy and empirical science."

— Steve Cole, PhD, Professor of Medicine and Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences, University of California, Los Angeles School of Medicine

"From the intricacies of modern compassion science, through to the practical applications for compassion clinically and in daily life, this timely volume is set to motivate, inspire, and embolden compassionate action around the world."

— Stan Steindl, PhD, Clinical Psychologist, Psychology Consultants Pty Ltd, and Adjunct Associate Professor, School of Psychology, University of Queensland

From the Publisher