Empathy motivates people to volunteer, whether it is empathic sadness or anger, a new study shows.

Professor Robert Bringle and students Ashley Hedgepath and Elizabeth Wall of the Appalachian State University presented their findings at the British Psychological Society's annual conference in Birmingham on Wednesday.

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Empathy is singled out as one of the primary responses motivating a volunteer. Professor Bringle defines an empathic reaction as an "equivalent reaction to a suffering individual". Though this is usually sadness motivating the individual to assist in order to alleviate suffering, it may also be anger at the perceived injustice of the situation.

Anger, the researchers argue, can often be seen as an aggressive response but in fact can occur when attribution is made about the unfairness of a victim's circumstances, prompting an active reaction to provoke change, something which the study focuses on.

Two questionnaires were used in the study, using a new means of measure known as the "Revised Empathic Anger" scale.

The first study polled 132 participants and found that those scoring high on the scale of empathic anger were more likely to support community projects and organizations in order to affect change rather than strictly charitable volunteering.

The second study, polling 152 participants, showed that those reporting high numbers on the scale of empathic anger were non-aggressive people who are just more concerned about social situations and humanistic conditions and more likely to reject group-based discrimination and inequality.

The study conclusively made it clear that anger is just as powerful a motivator as sadness, and may be useful in promoting activism and aid in a cause.

"Empathic anger is probably a more extreme or intense motive than others," Professor Bringle said, "and by developing our understanding of empathic anger we can better appreciate why some volunteers are motivated to assist certain social causes".

The results of the study as well as the invention of the new scale is believed to spark new debate and prompt new research into the field of empathic anger and how it develops and functions in society.

TagsVolunteering, Empathy, Anger, Study, Appalachian State University, British Psychological Society, Revised Empathic Anger, Professor Robert Bringle, Community Project, Charity