An Introduction to Social Psychology/123
almost devoid of active sympathy; they are content to admire, or to be
indignant, or vengeful, or tender, or curious, or grateful, alone, and they
derive little or no satisfaction from finding that others are sharing their
emotions. Such a man is not necessarily incapable of the tender emotion
and the sentiment of love; he may be tenderly devoted to his family and
be capable of the most truly disinterested conduct, but he is by nature a
solitary, his gregarious instinct is abnormally weak, and therefore he is
content to bury his joys and his sorrows in his own bosom.
On the other hand, the person in whom this impulse is strong can
find, when alone, no enjoyment in the things that give him, when in
sympathetic company, the keenest delight He may, for example, be an
enthusiastic admirer of natural beauty; but if, by some strange chance,
he takes a walk alone through the most beautiful scenes, his emotional
stirrings, which, if shared by others, would be a pure delight, are ac-
companied by a vague though painful desire, whose nature he may or
may not clearly recognise. And the chances are that he occupies himself
in making mental notes of the scenes before him and hurries home to
give a glowing description of them to some friend who, he knows, will
be stirred in some degree to share his emotions. Some persons, in whom
this impulse is but little specialised though strong and whose emotions
are quick and vivid, are not satisfied until all about them share their
emotions; they are pained and even made angry by the spectacle of any
one remaining unmoved by the objects of their own emotions.
Many children manifest very clearly this tendency of active sympa-
thy; they demand that their every emotion shall be shared at once. “Oh,
come and look!” is their constant cry when out for a walk, and every
object that excites their curiosity or admiration is brought at once, or
pointed out, to their companion. And if that companion is unsympa-
thetic, or is wearied by their too frequent demands upon his emotional
capacities, the urgency of this impulse gives rise to pain and anger and,
perhaps, a storm of tears. On the other hand, another child, brought up,
perhaps, under identical conditions, but in whom this impulse is rela-
tively weak, will explore a garden, interested and excited for hours to-
gether, without once feeling the need for sympathy, without once calling
on others to share his emotion.
Active sympathy is, then, egoistic, it is a seeking of one’s own sat-
isfaction. There are selfish men in whom this tendency is very strong;
such men wear out their wives, or others about them, by their constant
demands for sympathetic emotion, regardless of the strain they put upon