Compassion persists: The effects of repeated exposure to suffering on compassion.

= 677), self-reports, expressions, and physiological markers of compassion showed no evidence of decline; instead, they remained stable or increased over time. We found evidence for changes in other psychological measures (e.g., greater reported difficulty coping) across the paradigm and documented declines in well-being along with the emergence of compassion fatigue symptoms from pre- to postparadigm. These findings suggest that the experience of compassion persists even in the face of repeated exposure to others' suffering, and that phenomena like compassion fatigue may reflect the burden of sustaining compassion rather than a decline in compassion. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2026 APA, all rights reserved).