If you are in immediate danger, contact local emergency services. For suicidal thoughts, go to iasp.info/suicidalthoughts.

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Moral psychology

Empathy without a budget: when care for one group harms another

Affective empathy is real, measurable, and biased toward vivid victims. Policy that runs only on that fuel systematically underweights quiet trade-offs.

BriefingExpert synthesis2026Worldwide public debate

What we conclude

The popular phrase 'suicidal empathy' is not a diagnosis. The underlying pattern is: unbounded identification plus no accounting. The scientific task is to keep compassion and still count.

What we will not claim

We do not endorse the political uses of the slogan, and we do not treat compassion as a character defect.