Humans Feel More Empathy For Dogs Than Other Humans #funfact

Humans feel more empathy for dogs than we do for other humans.

[electroAM]

I think we feel more empathy towards things that we see as “helpless” like a puppy or 1 year old infant

[Khorne_of_the_Hill]

It's ok, they like us more than other dogs

[hellojudas]

Babies and dogs are both seen as inherently innocent and deserving of protection.

We are generally more jaded and apathetic towards grown adults tho

[nooone]

Because animals and babies are perceived as unconditionally loving, innocent and helpless (which is true) hence why we feel empathy

[SmegEgg]

They should have included the elderly as well

I think seeing the data across age ranges would also be really interesting

[HikiOmo]

Note: There was still empathy for everyone.

[t.r.]

It seems unconditional love means a whole lot. You can walk down the street, rob a bank, merc 50 people and come back, that dog will still be wagging his tail when you come home.

[sebastianfries]

I think it’s a matter of desensitization, for example the headline “three killed in mass shooting” is unfortunately common while “three puppies killed in attack on shelter” is less common, which causes us to think about it more on a subconscious level, which allows us to register the true level of depravity in both of the examples.

[SpadesNeil]

As a 30 year old adult, I can confirm that adults are jerks.

"... Are you a jerk?" Yes. Sometimes on purpose, sometimes not.

[dosde]

A human bystander dies on a movie: meh
A dog dies: *NOT THE DOG*

[MyKutie]

Thats because dogs and infants have the same level of innocence in most peoples eyes. Dogs and babies can't really deceive you, and they are usually pretty honest about their feelings haha

[eliotoole]

I can understand why someone would hurt an adult, I can’t for dogs or babies

[phlodel]

'The more I learn about people, the more I like my dog.' Mark Twain

[zenketski]

To be fair if I read an article about a one-year-old getting beat with a bat and only suffering a broken leg and being knocked out I would be immediately skeptical

[kaiz]

I love how alot of the stuff we 'hate' about people is stuff we do ourselves...

[StrawberryblondeHobbit]

It's because the dogs and animals that we love so much have never hurt our feelings have called us worthless or have tried to do crimes against us. They are just pure

[alicesennott]

I think it’s because people are responding to what victim is the most helpless. An infant and puppy cannot protect themselves or run away.

[Ch-ewtm]

“People are scumbags and should be more loving”
~People

[projectash]

I think the first one may have also been a little misleading because the picture of the dog was more of a helpless begging dog who looked like it needed help, while the human was just a kid with his hands on his chin looking at the camera. The kid didn’t look very helpless but the dog did, so I think it created an inconsistency beyond just human vs dog empathy.

[ryla]

It probably has more to do with perceived helplessness than it does the species of animal