Hi there,
I've just read this very useful chapter on Compassion Fears, Blocks and Resistances: An Evolutionary Investigation by Paul Gilbert and Jennifer Mascaro in The Oxford Handbook of Compassion Science (2017).
It says "Fears, Blocks and Resistances (FBRs) of compassion are many—for example, basic disliking; fear of being seen as behaving inappropriately in helping in public spaces, known as the “bystander effect” (Fischer, Krueger, Greitemeyer, et al., 2011); fears that compassion is a weakness or self-indulgence; expectations that one’s compassionate efforts will be incompetent, unhelpful, rejected, or shamed; fears of becoming too upset (personal distress) or swamped by the needs of the others (Vitaliano et al., 2003); fear that one’s compassion will be seen as manipulative or self-interested.
Blocks are not necessarily based on fears but can be linked to environmental contingencies. For example, hospitals that are overwhelmed with bureaucracies and staff shortages may significantly block staff’s capacity to function as compassionately as they would like (Brown et al., 2014). In the Buddhist traditions, ignorance and lack of insight into the temporary and illusory nature of the self are key blocks to compassion (Leighton, 2003).
Resistances arise when people could be, but simply don’t want to be, compassionate—they want to resist compassion. For example, they may be more focused on competitive self-advantage, wanting to hold onto their resources rather than share them, as can be common for some people in power (Keltner, 2016). Certain personalities (Furnham, Richards, & Paulhus, 2013; Ho, Sidanius, Kteily, et al., 2015) vengefulness, from personal arguments or tribal conflicts can inhibit compassion (Goetz et al., 2010). Sometimes resistance can be rooted in deep fears (of “the other,” for example).The use of psychological defenses such as dissociation, repression, and denial (Dalenberg, & Paulson, 2009) can also affect our compassion for others, the openness to the compassion from others and self compassion."
Powerful stuff indeed and so directly relevant to how we attend to and engage with suffering. It unsurprisingly got me thinking a lot more about FBRs to fierce compassion in particular. Do have a think about how these might apply to you as you connect with your own fierceness, it's a topic Neil and I deal with on Day 2 of our Training Workshop and can be very useful to explore.
Compassionate best wishes,
Syd