Individual and cultural differences in compassion, noticing suffering, and well-being: Consequences of wanting to avoid feeling negative

Although people across the globe experience suffering, some individuals find it difficult to respond to others' distress because they might not know what would be most helpful to that person in that particular situation. For instance, would a response that focuses on the silver lining or one that acknowledges the suffering of the other person be more compassionate and helpful? In this paper, we demonstrate that the construct of avoided negative affect (ANA), the degree to which people want to avoid feeling negative, can predict individual differences and explain cultural variations in several aspects of compassion. Because ANA is a relatively new construct, we review research that focuses on concepts that are related to, but differ from ANA. Then, we summarize individual and cultural differences in ANA and their consequences for expressions of sympathy and compassion, conceptualizations of compassion, noticing suffering (including acknowledging suffering such as systemic racism), and well-being. Across many studies conducted in various cultural contexts including Ecuador, Mexico, China, Japan, Germany, and the United States, ANA can partly explain cultural differences in different aspects of compassion. This work has important implications for cross-cultural counseling, anti-racism trainings, and conflict resolution. Noticing others' suffering and understanding what compassion entails for different people in different settings can result in treating others the way they want to be treated.