Far from the genes, far from the heart

Which species elicit the most empathy and compassion from us, and why? This is the question posed by Michel Raymond, biologist at theInstitut des sciences de l'évolution de Montpellier (ISEM).

Turtle or squirrel, which would you save if they were in mortal danger? Jellyfish or cactus, which do you feel closer to? Michel Raymond and his colleagues at the Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle put these questions to almost 3,500 "judges", each of whom examined 20 pairs of animal or plant photographs. The aim? To determine how our ability to empathize with and feel compassion for other organisms fluctuates from one species to another", explains theISEM researcher whose study has been published in Scientific Reports.

Phylogenetic distance

Why do we choose to save the squirrel rather than the tortoise? Are we sensitive to its beauty? To its size? To its vulnerability? No, according to this work, what determines the compassion or empathy we feel for the living beings presented is the phylogenetic distance that separates us. " The affective map of the living world thus constituted shows that the further an organism is evolutionarily from us, the less we recognize ourselves in it, and the less moved we are by its fate", explains Michel Raymond.

When a species is evolutionarily close to us, like the great apes, we share with it characteristics, particularly physical ones, gradually acquired during our common evolution. "And we can more easily recognize in them an alter ego, and adopt the same prosocial behaviors towards them as we do with our fellow human beings".

Alter ego

On the podium of our affections, we find the great apes: orangutan, gorilla and chimpanzee, who best arouse our empathy and compassion. The volunteers who took part in the study were even more likely to direct these feelings towards the orang-utan than towards... man, who was also one of the species presented. At the bottom of the "unloved " list were cacti, mushrooms, jellyfish and ticks. " The latter is breaking all negative records," explains Michel Raymond.

For the researchers, these results "invite us to examine the influence exerted by our sensory and emotional biases on social issues involving our relationship with the rest of the living world".