The suffering of others is available very often. For example, in the news, in movies or series, in  conversations, or some incident we may witness in the street. Real or fictional, engaging with the suffering of others can be emotionally and cognitively taxing but also important and useful. Through a mixed-methods approach of two studies (N ≈ 500), this research asked people to share instances of suffering experienced by a stranger and their reasons for engaging with it.

The results characterize who the stranger was, what the suffering was about and the media participants used to access it. This allowed to contextualize the motives and understand the kind of situations of suffering people described and found relevant. Furthermore, the results present a taxonomy of motives distinguishing epistemic, eudaimonic, social and affective motives.

Specifically, the results show that suffering, even if it is experienced by complete strangers, can provide important knowledge about life and the world we live in. The suffering of others can help us prepare for future events and learn to protect ourselves and our loved ones. Engaging with suffering has important interpersonal benefits, it may allow to connect to others, to show solidarity, and to do the right thing. Finally, the suffering of others can make us experience emotions, share their feelings and take perspective of our situation.

This project understands that engaging with the suffering of strangers is a motivated phenomenon. Furthermore, it seeks to unpack the benefits and value people perceive in learning from these experiences.