Compassionate approach leads to more help and less punishment

Compassion -- and intentionally cultivating it through training -- may lead us to do more to help the wronged than to punish the wrongdoer, new research suggests. Understanding what motivates people to be altruistic can not only inform our own behaviors, it may also play a role in creating more just societal institutions, including the legal and penal systems. It can also help researchers develop better interventions to cultivate compassion, say the authors.