Empathy is a category used both in the context of describing a personal trait and an acquired moral quality, communication skill, or style of interaction with reality. Empathy as a personality quality manifests itself in a person’s internal need to share the experiences of another, and this is done not consciously, when help is offered or sympathy is expressed, and the emotional sphere independently connects to the state of another. During empathy, the emotional spheres of several people merge and their experiences are combined, regardless of who first began to experience emotions.
The quality of empathy, as a category of skill, implies that a person does not receive this ability from birth, but can develop independently or this skill is formed by society. As an interaction style, empathy is often replaced by other non-identical concepts of compassion or mercy. It is important to understand that there is a merging of any emotions - you can rejoice, co-envy, hope, etc. This is the main difference from other moral categories that regulate emotional relationships in society.
Perhaps it is the ability to express empathy for another person that is the most valuable quality, since even in friendship people can remain close in problems, help and listen to many troubles, but at the same time are unable to bear the happiness and success of another. Empathy across the entire emotional spectrum is most clearly represented in parent-child relationships, when the baby’s joy pleases the parents even more, and when his pain inside hurts even more.
What is empathy?
Empathy is the ability to feel compassion for any living being, not necessarily a person. Empathy is shown at the sight of a sick animal, to strangers who have experienced severe shocks. A person sympathizes with the characters of books or films, imbued with the storyline. It is important to understand that empathy is the ability to listen to a person and read facial signals and movements. After receiving the signs, a person capable of empathy will talk to the sufferer and provide support.
What is empathy? Is this a similar skill to empathy or a common one? Empathy differs from sympathy in that a person not only feels sorry for people in trouble, but is completely imbued with the problem. This skill helps you understand others and become closer to them.
Empathy is not necessarily about action. An empathetic person is not obliged to solve the problems of another. Although the level of assistance is not measured, it depends on the specific situation. Empathy can be called the other side of selfishness. A compassionate person is distinguished by his good disposition, the ability to love, and to see good qualities in people. Such a person is driven by spiritual strength, which is activated at the sight of people in trouble.
What it is
Emotional empathy is a term denoting the state of a person when he connects to the emotional sphere of another, usually implying a negative connotation of emotions. But empathy has no restrictions on its manifestations, therefore, as a result, it gives a feeling of closeness, warmth and support. Such interaction most fully describes friendship and faith in a person, because implies not so much practical help, provided coldly out of logical calculation, as acceptance of emotional experiences, and providing another with a sense of wholeness.
A person can only demonstrate this quality on his own; it is impossible to make someone else feel the approximate range of their emotions or worry about a topic that is insignificant to them. On the part of the recipient, empathy is always perceived as something pleasant, giving a feeling of calm and lack of loneliness in the face of overwhelming emotions. But if such behavior is demanded from people, remembering how favorable it was, then nothing but strong resistance to somehow participate in the interaction will be achieved.
Empathy cannot be controlled or intentionally created, although it is a skill that can be trained. Its structure has something similar to one’s own feelings, which arise spontaneously in relation to the surrounding reality, but are little controlled, although with certain practices, long-term psychotherapy or self-analysis a person can be able to transform them.
It is the difference in the attitudes of others and the internal processes that occur with a person during empathy that do not allow this category to be attributed only to positive manifestations of individuals. This is considered a good trait among those who want to receive support and sympathy, while the emotional state of empathy of the person himself takes him into the sensory sphere of another, where not only his own identity is lost, but also control. This is somewhere similar to the loss of one’s self, when the desires of another are perceived as one’s own, his ideas seem exclusively correct, and a sober assessment is only possible when people come out of the merger, and there is no common emotional sphere. In order not to lose yourself in emotional impulses, you need to be able to distance yourself, both from someone else’s joy, which can carry you into unknown euphoria, and from someone else’s pain, which destroys the nervous system and psyche.
The presence of this feeling is an exclusively subjective category that has a great influence on the general process of formation or frustration of moral norms of society.
Empathy often borders on pity and mercy, the ability to self-sacrifice and empathy - all these categories are direct keys that strengthen the humanistic direction of human development. The development of empathy occurs from childhood, and although it has an innate basis as the ability to empathize, it requires further internal work.
Why is it important to be able to empathize?
Compassion manifests itself in different ways. The level of empathy is influenced by who is in front of us - a close person or a stranger. An empathetic person accepts pain and carries it through himself. Think about how you react to touching moments in films. Many people are unable to stop themselves from crying. Such experiences relieve stress and help you learn to express your feelings.
The described state is called emotional empathy. Such people react sharply to positive and sad events. A terrorist attack in another country brings tears, victory at the Olympic Games brings joy and laughter. Reacting to the troubles happening all over the world, a person does not control his emotions, his peace of mind leaves him.
- Self-esteem increases. Helping other people gives you strength. Confidence in your own actions and actions appears. A person moves forward and gains the respect of others.
- Spiritual saturation and rapprochement . A misfortune experienced with a friend will make the friendship stronger. Nothing brings spouses closer together than shared grief. Provided that people did not turn away from each other, but provided support and empathy.
- Life hardening . You cannot live in a golden cage without noticing the suffering of those around you. An unpleasant event can happen to you at any moment. The skill of empathy helps you prepare for anticipated troubles. Having experienced similar difficulties with another person, you will analyze the situation and derive the correct model of behavior. As a result, prepare for the surprises of fate.
In any issue, a golden mean is required. It is important to be able to empathize, but remember that when sympathizing with another person, you do not need to go too far. Constant sympathy will not lead to a positive outcome. You will become exhausted and teach your loved one unnecessary pity.
How to develop empathy?
First you need to pull your feelings out. A person who suppresses emotions does not understand when he experiences joy or sadness and is not able to empathize with other people. Compassion is based on an understanding of feelings, observation, communication, and a sympathetic attitude towards others.
How to develop empathy?
- Show your feelings . Don't drown out your emotions with a glass of strong drink. Let the feelings come out. Don’t be afraid of pain; after emotional liberation, relief will follow.
- Learn to listen . By intonation, gestures, and facial expression it is easy to determine what is really happening to a person. Ask leading questions, be interested in other people's problems. Allow the person to speak out and share their troubles.
- Put yourself in the other person's shoes . This is a simple exercise for those who enjoy reading books. Imagine that you are the main character and the events retold by a friend happen to you. As a result, the feelings and emotions experienced by the interlocutor will be tightened.
- Show signs of attention . Sometimes a nod of the head, a pat on the shoulder, a look in the eyes is enough for the person to understand that you sympathize. Looking away, checking email, or reading messages on your phone will make it clear to your interlocutor that you are not interested. To build trust in a person, share a similar story.
After completing these exercises, move on to complex methods. Show empathy for strangers or people you don't like or respect. When communicating with a person, participate in the discussion, ask counter questions, and not just talk about your life.
Empathy and sympathy
The term empathy is often used as a synonym for sympathy. In fact, there is a significant difference between these concepts.
The main difference between sympathy and empathy lies at the level of experience. The fact is that a sympathetic person will not experience the same emotions as the object of sympathy, while an empath completely shares the experiences of the object of sympathy, blurring the line “my emotion - your emotion.”
Sympathy may imply pity for another person, and regret, and the provision of help, and the manifestation of care, but at the same time, a certain emotional barrier remains between the sympathizer and the object of his sympathy: “this is your sadness. I feel very sorry for you, but I don’t feel the same.”
Empathy always presupposes empathy: an empath experiences pain, sadness and other emotions of another person as his own. The basis for the manifestation of empathy is the similarity of life experiences. When we learn about another person’s misfortune (his grief, loss, illness, etc.), we correlate the information received with the “card index” of our own experience when we found ourselves in similar situations, and this helps us understand the other person’s condition and experience feelings , which are now overpowering him. That is, we are in any case capable of showing empathy. Because we know well what pain, disappointment, sadness and other unpleasant experiences are.
Empathy in children
To check whether your baby is ready to sympathize with others, observe your child's behavior. How does he react if a peer’s toy breaks? There are three options for the development of events: the baby will cry or stroke the “sufferer”, will not pay attention, or will laugh in response. The last two reactions indicate that the feeling of empathy is unknown to your child. Take note and after your child reaches 3 years old, start taking action.
Empathy manifests itself in different ways in children. A sympathetic child will notice the tears, become upset, or also cry. Children who are capable of compassion react to their parents’ intonation and facial expressions. Empathy contributes to the development of useful child skills: adequate emotional assessment of what is happening, caring for nature and loved ones. These qualities are necessary for the formation of a mature and successful personality.
Developing empathy in preschoolers
There is no universal method that will turn an indifferent baby into an empathetic child. The foundations are laid by parents and loved ones who are surrounded. It will take years for preschoolers to develop empathy, so don't put off teaching the skill until later. To develop responsiveness, follow these rules:
- Monitor the emotional situation in the family . The child copies the actions of his parents, reads information from them, repeats words and habits. Show by example how close people communicate. Show sympathy, ask how the day went, offer help, take care during illness.
- Become a role model . As a rule, people withdraw into their families, remaining indifferent to the troubles of others. Show that you are actively involved in the lives of your grandparents and visiting your friends. Help strangers who find themselves in unpleasant situations. It is enough to start small, invite the child to give up his seat to an elderly person and explain that it is difficult for him to stand.
- Encourage your child for showing feelings . Thank your child if he helped or showed interest. Support if the child has a desire to help others. Even if the actions taken seem trivial to you. For example, saving an ant from the rain.
- Don't criticize or punish . If a child behaves inappropriately, do not rush to scold. Find out whether the baby understood the situation correctly and whether he knows how to react. Misunderstanding of emotions or actions leads to incorrect behavior of the child.
- Let's give you emotional support . Do not skimp on praise, hugs, kisses. Tell your child how your day went, ask about his experiences. The main thing is not to complain or condemn the actions of others, but simply explain why you were tired, crying or sad. Don't brush off your child's problems, show sympathy.
Empathy can be developed, but failure to use the skill also leads to a decrease in empathy. Research among students has shown that responsiveness levels have decreased by 40% over the past 30 years. Therefore, understanding empathy is not enough. Show concern every day when caring for your loved ones.
The meaning of the word empathize
Examples of the use of the word empathize in literature.
The dogs, especially the first-year puppies, vigorously empathized with the race, gave out breaking voices, the rams huddled together and stamped their feet, as they do in danger, when, for example, they smell a wolf, and the old dereza goat Zina ran up to the butt of last year's wormwood and weeds. hay and watched the chase with the expression of an avid football fan.
The working of angels and archangels into the human soul in the German-northern regions was not just a memory, but even during the very stay of Christ Jesus on Earth, people could see this working in, they were involved in it, they empathized with the work of angels and archangels on their soul.
In the further course of pre-earthly existence, the empathetic consciousness of the formation of the future earthly organism becomes more and more vague.
He could speak to the moon respectfully, and pleadingly, and tenderly, he felt connected with her by subtle spiritual ties, he thoroughly knew the life of the moon and actively participated in its destinies and transformations, he empathized with the waning of the moon and its renewal as a sacrament, suffering together with her and being frightened when it seemed that the moon was threatened by illness, danger, change and misfortune, when it lost its shine, changed color, dimmed, ready to go out.
Therefore, it was not the reported facts themselves, but the writer’s own fate and the courage of the Russian man, who stood on the basis of Orthodox morality, that forced us to closely follow the cycle of life and empathize with the author of the memoirs.
Not a single viewer, from the most refined to the very average, will be able to remain indifferent and not empathize with my manic fetishistic obsession - after all, we will be talking about a completely reliable story, and moreover, reproduced as truthfully as no documentarian can.
They are small, said Ishtar, both professions require the ability to empathize.
Not restrained by the main branch, they would give a huge variety of forms and would only be unable to create intelligence due to their deafness, inability to empathize, to hear the feelings of others.
To tell the truth, the need for reading, for a meaningful spiritual life, remains enormous among the domestic reader, and he more than satisfies it with the current wealth of books, retreating to the literature that he trusts and empathizes with - and these can be the most unexpected books.
And the duel of actors on stage is seen by thousands of eyes, thousands of souls are captured by it, thousands of people empathize with the fight - who will win, what is the fate of the vanquished?
Chief resuscitator Creech and dozens of assistants, consultants, advisers, backups, who had long ago lost the ability to empathize with tragedies, were serving their usual duties.
Source: Maxim Moshkov library
