Individual Emotions
Basic emotions
Fear, anger, disgust, contempt, sadness, joy, and interest are easily understood emotions due to their prevalence in human experience.
Basic emotions are present in everyone, irrespective of age, gender, culture, or historical context.
They have identifiable causes and produce consistent behavioral, cognitive, and social outcomes.
Fear
Fear arises from the perception of danger or threat to well-being.
Common fear-activating situations include anticipation of physical or psychological harm and feelings of vulnerability.
Threats can come from biological sources (e.g., snakes, spiders) or sociocultural contexts (e.g., angry expressions, strangers).
Humans are more instinctively prepared to fear biological threats but can adapt to sociocultural fears.
Snakes and threatening facial expressions are particularly effective at eliciting fear responses.
The sense of helplessness in coping with threats amplifies fear.
Fear is primarily about perceived vulnerability to being overwhelmed by threats.
Coping potential can mitigate fear; higher perceived coping ability can reduce fear responses.
Fear acts as a protective motivator, signaling vulnerability and prompting instinctual responses like freezing or fleeing.
Physiological responses to fear include trembling, sweating, nervous tension; these protect the self.
Fear motivates escape or withdrawal; fleeing creates distance from the threat, while freezing involves stillness.
Fear can also enhance learning of coping strategies to avoid future danger; experienced individuals cope better with risks than novices.
Overall, fear warns of vulnerability while fostering the development of adaptive coping responses.
Anxiety
Anxiety is closely related to fear (Ohman, 2008).
Both are aversive emotional states arising from perceived threats to well-being.
Key differences:
Fear has an identifiable threat (e.g., snakes, heights).
Anxiety often concerns the unknown future without a specific threat.
Fear motivates specific coping actions (e.g., running from a snake).
Anxiety results in undirected arousal and tension with no clear coping action.
Fear is considered a functional emotion and a motivational asset, while anxiety tends to be a negative emotional state that does not improve coping effectiveness.
PTSD
PTSD is closely related to fear (Ohman, 2008).
Arises from experiences of extreme danger that elicit intense fear (fright, terror).
Has short-term fear-related consequences and long-term trauma-related consequences.
Typical antecedents include:
Living through terrorism
Torture
Major accidents
Natural disasters (e.g., hurricanes)
Often involves witnessing the killing of others in a context of widespread violence (e.g., bombs, destruction).
The source of fright (the trauma) is clear, but the person feels anxiety and stress due to unpredictability of re-experiencing fear through vivid flashbacks.
Individuals with PTSD may struggle with sleep and concentration.
It is difficult to alleviate fear from past trauma because there is no clear coping response (one cannot undo the trauma).
Phobias
Clinical phobia is closely related to fear (Ohman, 2008).
There are four main categories of common adult phobias (Arrindell et al., 1991):
Interpersonal Events and Situations
Includes fears of criticism, rejection, and interpersonal conflict (especially violent conflict).
Death, Injuries, Illnesses, Blood, and Surgical Procedures
Encompasses fears of bodily injury, illness, and death.
Animals
Involves fears of domestic and creepy crawly animals.
Agoraphobic Fears
Includes fears of getting lost in crowds, entering closed spaces, and being alone.
These phobias make evolutionary sense:
Social situations can lead to psychological and physical harm.
Death and illness are inherently threatening.
Animals can pose predatory risks.
Agoraphobic fears arise from the risk of separation from security or loved ones.
Anger
Anger is a ubiquitous emotion (Averill, 1982).
Often the first emotion people recall in recent experiences (Scherer & Tannenbaum, 1986).
Core antecedent of anger: an obstacle to goal pursuit.
Anger arises from interference with significant and minor goals (e.g., being stuck in traffic).
Triggered by attempts to cause harm and feelings of betrayal, rejection, or criticism (Fehr et al., 1999).
Caused by aversive conditions like pain (Berkowitz & Harmon-Jones, 2004).
Anger reflects restraint; the belief that interference is illegitimate
Provocations, such as unfair treatment or harsh criticism, reliably elicit anger
Anger enhances strength and motivation to defend against perceived injustices.
Increases sense of control, potentially leading to successful outcomes
Those expressing anger may gain more respect than those expressing sadness
Anger clarifies relationship problems and motivates social change (e.g., civil rights movements).
Anger is dangerous; can lead to aggression and destructive behaviors
About 50% of anger episodes involve yelling, 10% lead to aggression.
Despite its effectiveness, anger can repel others
Effective anger regulation is crucial for positive social functioning
Those who regulate anger constructively fare better socially than those who do not
Disgust
Disgust is the oldest emotion with a primitive function to prevent the oral incorporation of offensive substances (Rozin & Fallon, 1987).
Its primary purpose is rejection (Rozin et al., 2008).
Healthy disgust produces a strong repulsion against spoiled or infested foods, countering hunger.
The importance of disgust is emphasized when considering historical living conditions (e.g., lack of sanitation).
Disgust involves feeling repulsed and motivated to distance oneself from contaminated or spoiled objects.
The objects of disgust can vary based on personal development and culture (Rozin et al., 1993; Rozin et al., 1994).
There are nine verified domains of disgust antecedents:
Food
Bodily waste products
Animals
Sexual behaviors
Contact with death or corpses
Violations of the exterior of the body (gore, deformity)
Poor hygiene
Contact with unsavory people
Moral offenses (Haidt et al., 1994).
Disgust originated from repulsion to contaminated foods and evolved into a rejection system for various contaminants (Rozin et al., 2008).
Disgust reactions start from limited causes in infancy (e.g., bitter tastes) and expand in childhood to include psychological revulsions.
By adulthood, disgust encompasses bodily contaminations (germs), interpersonal contaminations (undesirable people), and moral contaminations (child abuse, incest).
Disgust elicitors can contaminate other objects (e.g., a dead cockroach on food).
Core of disgust revolves around identifying deteriorated or contaminated substances, which can be influenced by social experiences.
Social deviance and unfair treatment can also elicit disgust (Rozin et al., 2009).
Ideas and values can become contaminated, leading to moral disgust (Haidt, 2007).
Disgust can prompt moralization, as seen in vegetarians avoiding meat (Rozin et al., 1997).
Individuals with high disgust sensitivity often hold harsh moral judgments and conservative views (Olatunji, 2008).
Disgust plays a positive motivational role by encouraging avoidance of contaminants and prompting cleansing behaviors (Zhong & Liljenquist, 2006).
Disgust leads to changes in personal habits and hygiene to prevent disgusting situations.
Contempt
Contempt arises from a sense of moral superiority over another person.
Involves a negative evaluation of the other’s behavior, often judging them as unworthy.
Contempt is inherently a social emotion, occurring only during social interactions.
Shares strong experiential overlap with disgust but has distinct antecedents (moral superiority) and a unique facial expression.
Contempt facial expression includes a unilateral lip raise and tightening (Ekman & Friesen, 1986).
A typical scenario for contempt is when someone brags about an unearned accomplishment.
The function of contempt is to maintain social hierarchy, signaling dominance and superiority.
Can lead to destructive social consequences, particularly in intimate relationships.
In marriage, contempt expressed by one partner, especially the husband, is considered toxic and can predict relationship dissolution (Gottman & Silver, 1999).
Relationships may not survive experiences of contempt, highlighting its power in enforcing social hierarchies.
Sadness
Sadness (or distress) is the most negative, aversive emotion.
Arises principally from experiences of separation or failure, especially permanent loss.
To feel sad, the loss must involve a close attachment.
Distressing separations can occur from loved ones (death, divorce, travel) or from places and valued positions.
Failure (e.g., failing an exam, losing a contest, rejection) also leads to sadness.
Distress can come from failures outside of one’s control, such as war or economic depression (Izard, 1991).
Sadness promotes personal reflection and turns attention inward.
Bodily arousal decreases significantly, facilitating reflection on life plans and accommodating loss (Bonanno & Keltner, 1997; Welling, 2003).
Sadness can occur with temporary or partial loss, motivating actions to restore the previous state.
Individuals may apologize or take steps to repair relationships after separation or failure.
Many separations and failures are irreparable, leading to inactivity and withdrawal.
Sadness can indirectly facilitate social cohesion; its discomfort motivates maintenance of relationships (Averill, 1968, 1979).
Anticipation of sadness from failure encourages preparation and practice in students and athletes.
Depression
Sadness can slip into depression (Bonanno et al., 2008).
Sadness has benefits, motivating reparative behavior and eliciting sympathy and help from others (as seen in Pixar's Inside Out).
Depression has few benefits and signals that push people away (Coyne, 1976a).
The key trigger for the transition from sadness to depression is rumination.
Rumination occurs when sadness from a permanent loss is compounded, often resulting in depression (Nolen-Hoeksema et al., 2008).
Rumination can accompany sadness with overproduction of emotions such as anger, fear, shame, and discouragement (Hervas & Vazquez, 2011).
Anger adds irritation with oneself and discouragement leads to disappointment, reinforcing self-derogatory thoughts.
This emotional overproduction can lead to rumination and vulnerability to depression.
Unlike acute sadness, which promotes reflection and reparative coping, rumination-based depression impairs problem-solving and distracts attention.
Rumination stimulates negative thinking, erodes social support, and replaces reparative behaviors with self-harm and destructive actions (Nolen-Hoeksema et al., 2008).
Emotional Preparation for Threats and Harm
Themes organizing emotions: threat and harm
Anticipation of threats leads to fear
Motivates fleeing, escaping, and avoiding
During struggle against threat:
Anger arises, motivating fighting and vigorous defense
Disgust arises, motivating rejection of the threatening object/event
Once harm occurs:
Sadness ensues, leading to resignation
Together, these emotions provide a system for emotional preparation to cope with threats and harm.
Joy
Events that bring joy include:
Desirable outcomes (success, personal achievement, progress toward a goal)
Receiving love or affection
Gaining respect
Pleasant surprises or pleasurable sensations
Joy indicates positive life experiences (success, achievement, love)
Causes of joy are opposite to causes of sadness (failure, separation, loss)
Effects of joy also differ from sadness:
Sadness leads to lethargy; joy leads to enthusiasm
Sadness fosters pessimism; joy fosters optimism
Functions of joy:
Engages social activities:
Joyful smiles facilitate social interaction and bond relationships
Serves a soothing function:
Balances negative emotional experiences and counters stress
Helps preserve psychological well-being
Encourages creativity and play:
Broadens attention, thoughts, and behaviors
Builds social and intellectual resources
Joy is a family of positive emotions:
Includes amusement, wonder, pride, contentment, love, and schadenfreude.
Interest
Interest is the most prevalent emotion in day-to-day functioning.
Some level of interest is ever-present, shifting from one event or thought to another.
Interest is activated through environmental novelty:
Stimulus change, novelty, uncertainty, complexity, puzzles, curiosities, challenges.
Involves opportunities to gain new information and fulfill needs/well-being.
People find interesting those things they appraise as novel-complex and feel competent to understand.
Interest motivates exploration and interaction with the environment, enhancing learning.
Interest determines attention directed to activities and aids in processing and remembering information.
Benefits of interest include:
Motivates environmental engagement.
Promotes learning, skill development, knowledge acquisition, and achievement.
Interest replenishes personal resources during prolonged engagement in tasks.
Interest-fueled engagement counteracts exhaustion and energizes further concentration.
Emotional Preparation for Motive Involvement and Satisfaction
Themes organizing positive emotions: interest and joy involve motive involvement and satisfaction.
Anticipation of beneficial events related to needs leads to feelings of interest.
Realization of these events into motive satisfaction results in feelings of joy.
Interest motivates exploratory behavior and engagement with tasks related to potential satisfaction.
Interest prolongs task engagement, enhancing the likelihood of experiencing motive satisfaction.
Joy complements and can replace interest once satisfaction is achieved (Izard, 1991).
Joy promotes persistence in tasks and encourages reengagement with satisfying events.
Together, interest and joy support full emotional involvement in activities, preparing individuals for motive involvement and satisfaction (Reeve, 1989).
Self-conscious Emotions
Shame
Shame is a powerful emotion linked to feelings of inferiority, worthlessness, and a damaged self-image (Tangney & Dearing, 2002).
Arises from violations of moral standards and competent functioning (e.g., inappropriate behavior or poor performance).
Failing at an easy task is a strong trigger for shame (Chao, Cheng, & Chiou, 2011).
Shame signals that something is wrong with the self and is an emotional reaction to inadequacy (Tangney et al., 1992).
Associated with intense pain, confusion, withdrawal tendencies, and rumination (Keltner & Buswell, 1996; Orth et al., 2006).
Functions as a moral barometer, providing feedback on adherence to standards.
Generates dual motives:
Protect the self: leads to withdrawal and avoidance.
Restore the self: seeks opportunities for making amends.
When restoration is impossible or risky, individuals prefer to hide and avoid further self-damage.
The motive to restore the self is stronger than the motive to protect the self (de Hooge et al., 2010).
After a failure or moral transgression, individuals feel a stronger urge to repair their self-image than to avoid further damage.
Despite the urge to restore, individuals often withdraw when the situation is too risky
A supportive environment (social support, empathy) is necessary to maintain motivation to restore self-worth.
Shame, despite being labeled a "bad" emotion, serves a functional purpose to motivate behaviors that restore a positive self-view (de Hooge et al., 2010).
Understanding shame sheds light on emotions in general, suggesting that all emotions can have beneficial functions.
Guilt
Guilt is similar to shame but lacks the negative intensity of shame.
It does not involve an attack on the self, focusing instead on evaluating behavior as a failure.
Guilt signifies that one's behavior has caused harm, loss, or distress to someone else (Tangney et al., 1996).
It prompts the individual to make amends and rectify the situation (e.g., apologizing, repairing harm).
Guilt serves as an emotional marker indicating a strained social bond that needs repair.
Unlike shame, guilt motivates targeted prosocial behaviors toward the harmed individual instead of generalized prosociality.
Guilt leads to focused thought on the harm caused, guiding towards reparation rather than engaging in confusion or withdrawal.
Guilt generates behaviors aimed at making amends (e.g., apologizing, confessing).
Although guilt can feel bad, it motivates greater cooperation and aligns with moral standards (de Hooge et al., 2007).
It acts as a moral barometer, providing feedback on the acceptability of one's behavior.
Experiencing guilt prompts a positive attitude towards reparatory actions, increasing the likelihood of cooperation.
Guilt often accompanies perspective-taking and empathy towards the harmed party, leading to effective actions like apologizing.
Guilt arises from violating internalized moral standards and can be relieved by taking actions that restore one's moral standing (Branscombe et al., 2004).
Embrassement
Embarrassment signals that something is amiss and requires self-monitoring or hiding of the self.
It occurs after a social blunder in front of an audience suggesting personal deficiency (e.g., forgetting a name, tripping, bodily dysfunction).
The cause of embarrassment is the anticipation of negative evaluation from others, not the blunder itself.
It arises when the desired social image is at risk due to the blunder, leading to a fear of forming a negative impression.
Embarrassment can also happen in positive situations, indicating a disruption in smooth social interaction without clear guidelines on appropriate behavior.
Individuals may suppress emotionality during awkward moments (increased heart rate, blood pressure).
Functions of embarrassment include:
Appeasing the audience
Repairing negative self-impression
Implicitly communicating that the blunder won’t happen again
To appease the audience, embarrassed individuals may:
Avert eyes, blush, act submissively, apologize, promise not to repeat the action, and engage in self-grooming.
Behaviors to appease may include looking down, gaze to the left, suppressing smiles, and touching the face or hair.
Displaying embarrassment can be successful; those who show it or make effort to appease are rated more positively than those who do not.
Embarrassment has remedial value in social situations and it is wise not to hide it after a blunder.
Pride
Pride is a self-related emotion linked to achievement, success, and positive functioning.
It boosts self-esteem and signals worthiness of acceptance and status.
Expressed through body language: slight smile, head tilt back, expanded chest, and raised arms.
Recognized by children and by those who are blind, indicating its innate nature.
Has dual facets:
Authentic Pride: Promotes achievement behaviors, heartfelt self-esteem, and prosocial actions (e.g., volunteering).
Hubristic Pride: Associated with narcissism, aggression, relationship conflict, and antisocial behaviors (e.g., manipulation).
Authentic pride is linked to internal, unstable, and controllable attributions (e.g., "I won because I practiced").
Hubristic pride is linked to internal, stable, and uncontrollable attributions (e.g., "I won because I am the greatest").
Despite different expressions and effects, both forms stem from success and accomplishment.
Authentic pride leads to prosocial behavior through motivation and skill acquisition, while hubristic pride leads to antisocial behavior, driven by a quest for dominance and exploitation.
Triumph
Triumph is the emotional reaction following victory in a competitive situation.
Displayed through:
Self-expressive behavior: Arms raised above shoulders, chest pushed out, mouth open, head tilted back, smiling, thumbs-up gesture.
Social dominance: Fist pumps, shouting, and other assertive actions typical of competitive athletes after winning.
Triumph signals victory, dominance, and social power over the defeated.
It communicates to others about one’s achieved victory and suggests others should avoid future challenges.
Triumph is distinct from pride:
Pride reflects successful evaluation of specific actions and personal satisfaction.
Triumph signals aggression and tension release, putting opponents in their place.
Triumph is more aligned with hubristic pride than with authentic pride.
Interrelations among Shame, Guilt, Embarrassment, Pride, and Hubris
Shame, guilt, and embarrassment are negative self-conscious emotions with different antecedents and consequences.
Pride and hubris are positive self-conscious emotions with different antecedents and consequences.
The integration of these five emotions revolves around whether the evaluation is of the self or a specific behavior, and whether that evaluation is positive or negative.
Positive evaluation of a specific behavior leads to:
Authentic Pride: Feeling productive and fulfilled.
Negative evaluation of a specific behavior leads to:
Guilt and Embarrassment: Motivation to undo the harm caused.
Positive evaluation of the global self leads to:
Hubris: Motivation to dominate or intimidate others.
Negative evaluation of the global self leads to:
Shame: Motivation to restore the damaged self.
Cognitively Complex Emotions
Envy
Envy is a painful emotion caused by the good fortune of others.
It arises from perceiving that another person has an advantage while desiring what they have.
Envy is highly social, embedded in social comparison of oneself with others.
Generates the goal to level the difference with the envied person, either by improving oneself or pulling the other down.
Two facets of envy:
Benign Envy:
Generates a moving-up motivation, aimed at self-improvement.
Inspires constructive behavior, promoting upward social mobility.
Belief that the envied person deserves their position.
Malicious Envy:
Generates a pulling-down motivation, aimed at damaging the envied person.
Leads to destructive behaviors without motivation for self-improvement.
Belief that the envied person does not deserve their superior position.
Envy can motivate prosocial behavior from the envied, as they may act to ward off potential malicious envy.
Wealthy or well-positioned individuals may engage in charitable acts to appease others and avoid destructive envy.
Gratitude
Gratitude is a positive emotion arising from receiving something of value (gift, help, assistance) from another person.
For gratitude to arise, the assistance must be:
Voluntarily given
Given at some cost to the giver
Done intentionally.
Gratitude acts as a benefit detector, indicating one has benefited from another's generosity.
Acts of kindness can also activate negative emotions of indebtedness.
Distinction between gratitude and indebtedness depends on the recipient's focus:
Focus on Kindness:
Leads to feelings of gratitude, relationship closeness, and a communal relationship.
Focus on Benefit:
Leads to feelings of indebtedness, a need to repay, and an exchange relationship.
Gratitude reinforces generosity and prosocial behavior (e.g., saying "thank you").
It promotes positive interpersonal relationships.
Gratitude boosts relationship satisfaction for both benefactor and beneficiary.
People experiencing gratitude are more likely to behave prosocially.
Gratitude stimulates personal reflection on helping and being giving towards others.
It can motivate upstream generosity, encouraging individuals to pass kindness to a third party.
Gratitude can lead to social integration and a sense of community involvement, exemplified in the concept of "Pay It Forward."
Disappointment and Regret
Disappointment and regret are intrinsic emotions to decision-making and arise from the nonoccurrence of a desired outcome.
Both involve reflecting on “what might have been” if things turned out differently.
Disappointment:
Occurs when comparing the actual outcome received versus an imagined better outcome.
A positive outcome was anticipated but did not materialize.
Example: Anticipating passing a test but failing.
Regret:
Arises when the person believes they could have acted differently or made a different choice, which did not happen.
Involves personal responsibility for the bad choice or action taken.
Example: Regretting not studying enough or wasting money.
Disappointment results from external unfavorable circumstances, while regret relates to self-blame.
These emotions produce different feelings, thoughts, motivations, and action tendencies:
Disappointment:
Feelings: Powerlessness.
Thoughts: “My expectancy was disconfirmed.”
Motivation: Leads to inaction.
Regret:
Feelings: Self-blame.
Thoughts: “I made a mistake.”
Motivation: Desire to correct the mistake and learn from it.
Regret can be functional in guiding future decision-making but may also lead to psychological distress.
Hope
Hope arises from a wish for a desired goal to be attained (Bruininks & Malle, 2005).
Rooted in the desire for future outcomes significant to the person.
Typically involves:
A wish for an attractive goal (e.g., acceptance into a favorite college)
A wish for an attractive event (e.g., getting tickets to a game)
A wish for a desired relationship (e.g., reuniting with a partner).
To experience hope during goal striving, progress must be perceived (Nelissen, 2016).
The motivational function of hope includes:
Keeping the person focused on the goal
Sustaining engagement in the pursuit of the goal
Acting as a counterforce to negative feelings and doubts about achieving the goal (Bruininks & Malle, 2005).
Schadenfreude
At a dinner party, a bride loses her footing and falls into a pool, creating a splash.
Typical emotions felt by onlookers include compassion, concern, and distress.
Emotions may change based on perceptions of the bride:
If she is believed to deserve her misfortune, feelings may shift.
Factors influencing emotions:
If she acted irresponsibly (e.g., being drunk).
If she belongs to a rival group (out-group).
If she is perceived as dishonest or immoral.
If the observer simply dislikes her.
This slippery feeling of satisfaction at another's misfortune is known as schadenfreude ("Sha-den-freud-ah").
It is associated with experiencing pleasure from others' setbacks.
Typically arises under conditions such as:
Disliking the individual.
Believing they deserve their misfortune.
Feeling envy towards them.
Witnessing their fall from grace.
Perceiving their achievements as undeserved or resented.
Seeing them as immoral in some capacity.
Empathy
Empathy is triggered by another person’s emotional state or situational circumstances.
Involves the observer feeling what the actor feels; an emotional transformation process occurs.
Empathy includes feeling moved, compassionate, or sympathetic toward another (Eisenberg & Fabes, 1990; Niezink et al., 2012).
Essence of empathy:
Feeling what the other feels.
Experiencing an other-oriented desire for the other to feel better.
Empathy arises from two principle antecedents (Hoffman, 2008):
Mimicry: Changes in facial expression, voice tone, and posture that synchronize with the other’s.
Mimicked movements activate emotions within oneself (Regenbogen et al., 2012).
Mirror neurons play a role, activating the same neural patterns for self-generated and observed emotions.
Can occur through hearing or reading about another’s distress.
Perspective Taking: Imagining oneself in another’s place, which involves understanding their feelings.
Combines suppressing one's own perspective and understanding the other's (Davis, 2004).
Some researchers distinguish between cognitive empathy (perspective taking and understanding) and emotional empathy (feelings of concern, sympathy, compassion) (Hoffman, 2000; Shamay-Tsoory et al., 2009).
Experience of empathy typically heightens perceptions of closeness and creates a prosocial motivational orientation.
People engage in more prosocial behavior when feeling empathy, with stronger empathy leading to greater action.
Combining perspective taking and other-concern enhances empathy and helping behaviors (Myers et al., 2013).
Distinction between empathy and personal distress:
Personal distress is a self-focused response to another’s suffering, leading to distancing behaviors.
Empathy generates an approach-based motivation to help, while personal distress focuses on relieving one’s own discomfort.
Empathy facilitates cooperation and helping, acting as a counterforce to antisocial behaviors like aggression and bullying. If there is a deep sense of empathy, harming another becomes motivationally difficult.
Compassion
Compassion is a complex emotion that encompasses both positive and negative aspects.
Generally perceived as positive, yet experienced as negative when in distress (Condon & Barrett, 2013).
Positive aspect: caring focus on the individual being cared for (compassion + empathy).
Negative aspect: linked to distress and suffering, focusing on one's own distress (compassion + distress) (Singer & Klimecki, 2014).
Compassion can be elicited by another’s suffering or by heartwarming stories.
Example stories that elicit compassion:
A woman discussing her sister’s death in a subway accident, recalling a voicemail with a loving message.
A husband and wife discussing his Alzheimer’s, love for their grandson, and the wife’s gratitude for caring for him (Condon & Barrett, 2013).
Both stories induce heartwarming compassion but also increase personal distress (feeling troubled or upset).
Although compassion is seen as positive, it carries psychological distress due to sympathy towards another's suffering (e.g., poverty, vulnerable infants).
Distress is inherent in the emotional experience of compassion, as its function is to alleviate another's suffering in a heartfelt manner.