  Much HCI research on prompting prosocial behaviors focuses on methods for
increasing empathy. However, increased empathy may have unintended negative
consequences. Our work offers an alternative solution that encourages critical
reflection for nurturing compassion, which involves motivation and action to
help others. In a between-subject experiment, participants (N=60) viewed a
climate change documentary while receiving no prompts (CON), reflective prompts
to focus on their emotions (RE) or surprises (RS). State compassion, critical
reflection, and motivation to act or learn were measured at the end of the
session (post-video) and two weeks later (follow-up). Despite participants'
condition not affecting compassion, critical reflection was positively
correlated with post-video state compassion. RE and RS participants
demonstrated deeper reflection and reported higher motivation to learn
post-video, and more prosocial behavioral changes during follow-up. RS
participants reported better follow-up recall than RE participants. We conclude
by discussing implications on designing technology to support compassion and
longer-term critical reflection.
