Lockwood et al. [43] found that negative
role models motivated others by encouraging the
avoidance of failure, highlighting prevention strategies,
and so were most likely to motivate individuals with prevention
goals. They also examined the cross-cultural
differences in reactions to positive and negative role
models and found that individuals from collectivistic
cultures, such as those from China, who had a stronger
prevention orientation, would be most motivated by
negative role models [44,45]. The findings from our
study suggest that students may learn to care from the
negative role models by avoiding conducting the same
uncaring behaviors they themselves experienced or
observed. In this study, uncaring experiences such as
coldness and insensitivity [39] provide the chance for
students to observe negative role models. Students can
observe uncaring behaviors of the negative role models
and these leave an imprint in their minds, which generate
the most learning about caring and students can
learn from the negatives [26,46,47].