Pity

Part of a series on
Emotions
Acceptance Affection Amusement Anger Angst Anguish Annoyance Anticipation Anxiety Apathy Arousal Awe Boredom Confidence Contentment Courage Cruelty Curiosity Depression Desire Despair Disappointment Disgust Distrust Ecstasy Embarrassment Empathy Enthusiasm Envy Euphoria Fear Frustration Gratification Gratitude Greed Grief Guilt Happiness Hatred Horror Hostility Humiliation Interest Jealousy Kindness Loneliness Love Lust Nostalgia Outrage Panic Passion Pity Pleasure Pride Rage Regret Rejection Remorse Resentment Sadness Saudade Schadenfreude Self-confidence Shame Shock Shyness Social connection Sorrow Suffering Surprise Trust Wonder Worry
v t e

Pity means feeling for others, particularly feelings of sadness or sorrow. In a positive sense it means "sympathy" and "empathy". More commonly Pity is a negative judgement of others and their situation.^[1] An example of pity is how most people feel about the homeless.^[1] Pity and compassion are closely related words but have subtle differences. The difference is that compassion usually involves some commitment to help. Pity does not usually require any personal involvement.^[2] Sometimes pity can also have feelings of contempt and dislike that go with it.^[3] In a positive sense, and especially as practiced in many religions, it can involve feelings the person does not deserve what has happened to him or her.^[3] In this case the person feeling pity feels sorry it happened.

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1} Aaron Ben-Zeév Ph.D.14 August 2010. "Do Not Pity Me". Psychology Today. Retrieved 17 September 2015.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
2. ↑ David Konstan, Pity Transformed (London: Duckworth, 2001), pp. 21–22
3. ↑ ^{3.0 3.1} "Difference Between Pity and Compassion". Difference Between. Retrieved 17 September 2015.