Kindergarten teachers’ compassion fatigue: decreasing with empathic ability or empathic motivation or both?

Compassion fatigue, often referred to as the “cost of caring,” reflects a form of empathy deficit. However, it remains unclear whether it stems from a diminishment in empathic ability, empathic motivation, or both. To address this gap, we developed a hierarchical regression and structural equation model using survey data from 1,161 kindergarten teachers. The findings revealed that both empathic ability and empathic motivation significantly and negatively predicted compassion fatigue. Specifically, job burnout was negatively predicted by both empathic ability and empathic motivation, whereas secondary stress was negatively predicted by empathic motivation but not by empathic ability. Theoretical and practical implications, along with directions for future research, are discussed.