Extension Learning Experience 6

“Beyond Good Intentions: Examining Compassion and Motivations,” asks students to explore scenarios and identify underlying motives for the actions each character took. Students are asked to decide whether they were acts of genuine compassion or apparent compassion/kindness. This creates a first experience with the concepts of reciprocity and integrity as they relate to compassion. Human social life depends on the ability to give and take with fairness. The principle of reciprocity means that if we want others to respect us and our well-being, we should extend that respect to others in return. In this way, we create a positive feedback loop of mutual benefit. Integrity consists of having an authentic intention that respects and values the common humanity and equality of others. It is not compassionate to do things that look good externally, but that are actually driven by a hidden motivation to take advantage of others. To act that way violates the principle of reciprocity, since we do not want to be taken advantage of.