Dreading the pain of others? Altruistic responses to others' pain underestimate dread

Story et al. (2021) asked adults to imagine waiting for a painful shock. Some shocks were for themselves. Others were for a friend or a stranger. The team then measured how much dread people felt for each scenario.

The study used a lab task with neurotypical adults. No one got real shocks. Instead, choices showed how much they hated delayed pain for self versus others.

People dreaded delayed pain for others, but less than for themselves. The closer the relationship, the smaller the gap. Friends got more empathy than strangers.

The effect was steady across participants. Everyone discounted others' dread, just by different amounts.

Chen et al. (2017) seems to disagree. They found autistic teens rated others' pain even lower than neurotypical adults did. The clash clears up when you note the populations: autistic youth process empathy differently. Story's adults still feel some dread for others; autistic teens feel markedly less.

Silberberg et al. (2008) with capuchin monkeys and Aragona et al. (1975) with rats both show delay, not just intensity, drives aversion. Story adds a social layer: delay hurts less when it hurts 'them,' not 'us.'

Brewer et al. (2023) report autistic adults know the right empathic response but doubt themselves. Story shows neurotypical adults also misjudge others' feelings, so empathy errors are not an autism-only problem.

When you schedule aversive procedures like blood draws or dental work, clients may dread them more than you expect. Factor in extra wait-time stress, especially for clients with weaker social ties to staff. Build rapport first, or break long waits into shorter steps. A two-minute warning or a preferred companion can shrink the dread gap and cut problem behavior before it starts.