e . g . ▁having ▁a ▁family ▁gather ing ) ▁or ▁specific ▁to ▁a ▁particular ▁culture ▁( e . g . ▁celebr ating ▁an ▁Eth iop ian ▁festival ). ▁There after ▁participants ▁of ▁ 1 ▁to ▁ 8 ▁pover ty - str icken ▁Eth iop ian ▁children , ▁along ▁with ▁a ▁description ▁of ▁how ▁people ▁from ▁that ▁part ▁of ▁Eth iop ia ▁are ▁suffering . ▁Last ly , ▁these ▁participants ▁did ▁question na ires ▁to ▁measure ▁similarity ▁with ▁and ▁comp ass ion ▁toward ▁the ▁Eth iop ian ▁children . ▁He ▁found ▁that , ▁the ▁reading ▁of ▁the ▁shared ▁experiences ▁drew ▁out ▁comp ass ion ▁toward ▁a ▁single ▁victim ▁and ▁not ▁multiple ▁vict ims . ▁This ▁can ▁be ▁further ▁explained ▁by ▁saying ▁that ▁people ▁act ively ▁suppress ▁comp ass ion ▁when ▁they ▁think ▁it ▁might ▁be ▁over wh el ming ; ▁this ▁means ▁that ▁humans ▁respond ▁to ▁the ▁suffering ▁of ▁others ▁based ▁on ▁their ▁own ▁self - inter est . ▁ ▁C . ▁D ary l ▁Camer on ▁and ▁B . ▁Keith ▁Pay ne ▁ ▁Camer on ▁and ▁Pay ne ' s ▁experiment ▁tested ▁whether ▁removing ▁a ▁source ▁of ▁motiv ation ▁to ▁reg ulate ▁would ▁reduce ▁the ▁collapse ▁of ▁comp ass ion . ▁Other ▁research ers ▁like ▁K og ut ▁and ▁R it ov ▁and ▁Small ▁et ▁al . ▁who ▁also ▁did ▁studies ▁included ▁measures ▁of ▁three ▁alternative ▁explan ations ▁for ▁the ▁collapse ▁of ▁comp ass ion : ▁psych ological ▁distance , ▁diffusion ▁of ▁responsibility , ▁and ▁success ▁in ▁helping ▁the ▁vict ims .