The Independent: People avoid feeling empathy towards others because it’s too mentally taxing.
https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/empathy-feelings-mental-effort-pennsylvania-state-university-a8882316.html
“There is a common assumption that people stifle feelings of empathy because they could be depressing or costly, such as making donations to charity,” Cameron says.
https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/empathy-feelings-mental-effort-pennsylvania-state-university-a8882316.html
“But we found that people primarily just don’t want to make the mental effort to feel empathy toward others, even when it involves feeling positive emotions.
”If we can shift people’s motivations toward engaging in empathy, then that could be good news for society as a whole.”
The findings follow a recent YouGov poll which revealed that the majority of adults in the UK believe there is less empathy in society now compared with one year ago.
Just 12 per cent of participants said they had noticed an increase in the ability of people to put themselves in others’ shoes, while 51 per cent said there was less empathy towards others.