Empirical investigations into the psychological drivers of more or less expansive moral thinking are lacking from the psychological literature. One potential driver that warrants deeper investigation is compassion – a prosocial motivation to both identity and alleviate suffering. The current research examined the extent to which compassion, and fears of compassion, act as a driver and inhibitor, respectively, of a morally expansive mindset. We tested these associations across three studies (N = 749) and found robust support for our predictions. Specifically, stronger compassion to others, and greater fears of extending compassion to others, were linked to enhanced and reduced moral expansiveness, respectively. Moreover, over and above empathy and mindfulness, fears of compassion and compassion uniquely predicted moral expansiveness. Finally, compassion was found to consistently mediate the relationship between fears of compassion to others and moral expansiveness. Our findings further our understanding of the psychological factors that may drive and restrict morally expansive mindsets and hold implications for the broader domains of moral decision-making and prosocial motivation as well as the application of practices that are designed to facilitate a compassionate mindset (e.g., Compassionate Mind Training).

中文翻译：

---

恐惧导致痛苦：同情的恐惧预示着道德界限的限制

心理学文献中缺乏对或多或少扩展道德思维的心理驱动因素的实证研究。值得深入调查的一个潜在驱动因素是同情心——一种既能认同又能减轻痛苦的亲社会动机。目前的研究考察了同情心和对同情心的恐惧在多大程度上分别充当了道德扩张心态的驱动因素和抑制因素。我们在三项研究中测试了这些关联（N = 749）并为我们的预测找到了强有力的支持。具体来说，对他人更强烈的同情心，以及对将同情心扩展到他人的更大恐惧，分别与道德扩张度的增强和降低有关。此外，除了同理心和正念之外，对同情心和同情心的恐惧独特地预示了道德的扩张。最后，人们发现同情心一直在调节对他人同情心的恐惧与道德扩张之间的关系。我们的研究结果进一步加深了我们对可能驱动和限制道德扩张心态的心理因素的理解，并对道德决策和亲社会动机的更广泛领域以及旨在促进富有同情心的心态的实践的应用产生影响（例如，慈悲心训练）。