What is empathy? The term empathy comes from the Greek "in", that is, "within", and "pathos", that is, "suffering" or "feeling". It is, therefore, the ability to identify with the mood of others, to understand what the other person is experiencing emotionally.
There is an Indian proverb that goes like this: before judging a man, he walks three moons in his shoes. And that is precisely what empathy does: it allows us to walk in the shoes of others, put ourselves in their shoes, identify ourselves and understand their feelings. Outside of metaphors, being empathetic means being able to put yourself in the situations of others, recognize the difficulties, understand their points of view and find the right key to help them get through the moments of error. In this Psychology-Online article we will see together the types of empathy according to authors, their characteristics and examples.
Index
- Positive empathy
- Negative empathy
- Emotional empathy
- Behavioral empathy
- Relational empathy
- Cognitive empathy
- Empathy in the parent-child relationship
- Empathy at school
- Empathy in the couple
- Empathy at work
- Empathy in animals
Positive empathy.
With positive empathy refers to the ability to fully participate in the joys of others, being aware of your happiness. With the right distances and differences, positive empathy is very similar to sympathy.
- It is the affinity you have with your friends, for example, often also based on common experiences, but does not foresee emotional sharing, the typical "feeling inside" of empathy that surely implies more commitment and availability.
Negative empathy.
When we cannot empathize with the joy of others is when we can talk about negative empathy.
- An example: loss of a loved one.
In these situations, it is common not to be able to experience a kind of sympathy for the joy of another person not involved in mourning.
Emotional empathy.
Emotional empathy is one of the types of empathy according to Goleman, who also considers cognitive empathy and compassionate empathy. For emotional empathy The emotional response that derives from the awareness that the shared emotion comes from the emotion of the other is understood: feel what the other feels. Thanks to empathy, the state of mind of others is understood and "felt", their emotional state and the "quality" of their life are perceived. Therefore, it can be summarized with "I feel the same as you", in being able to perceive the emotions experienced by others, understand what emotions the subject feels (what emotion is in circle), what intensity, what emotional mixes does the interlocutor live, how emotions are associated with people, objects, events, internal or external situations than the other it lives.
Behavioral empathy.
This type of empathy consists of understand behaviors and their causes, understand why behavior and related behavior chains. Behavior, then, because empathy has and must also give a response, in terms of behavior, to the other: it is the ability to communicate the understanding of the feelings of others.
Relational empathy.
This type of empathy can be conceived as a specific area of the behavioral component of empathy: it is a empathy experienced and perceived by the other, with which to understand the map of the subject's relationships and their affective values, understand with whom the subject is related voluntarily or by obligation, with whom you should relate to decide, work or live, with whom you agree and who does not, who influences your professional life personal...
Cognitive empathy.
Cognitive empathy is one of the types of empathy according to Goleman. Cognitive empathy is understood as an intellectual ability to identify and understand the feelings of another person. Understand the active cognitive prototypes at a given moment in time, beliefs, values, ideologies, mental structures that the subject possesses and to which they join. Indeed, the other's thinking is intuited and their point of view is understood, even without necessarily involving an emotional exchange. Therefore, an example of cognitive empathy would be "I understand what you are living".
Empathy in the parent-child relationship.
For the child's growth, an environment that facilitates her physical and emotional development is essential, a secure base to create the necessary bonds to face life. Indeed, educating on the basis of empathy means entering into relationships with children, trying to put yourself in their shoes and observe how they see the outside world.
Empathy is born in the child from its first days of life and, according to Hoffman's theories, parents should learn from spontaneity of the child to be empathetic people and to educate and care for him above all through sensitivity and not with the punishment. Between parents and children, learning and showing empathy should be reciprocal. In the next article, we talk more about parenting and attachment.
Empathy at school.
Not all teachers are able to empathize with their students and, at the same time, there are various difficulties in relationship between children and children who attend school, a set of aspects that run the risk of leading to even in Bullying. To improve relations between students and between students and teachers, perhaps we too should follow the Danish example and introduce empathy as a school subject: in this way, each one could better understand others and their emotions. The educational system itself and the teaching methods would find very different foundations.
The following article, you will find Activities and games to work empathy in children.
Empathy in the couple.
Being in a couple means bringing into the love relationship who we are, our personal history and all the positive or negative experiences lived. The more our relationships are based on empathy, the more it will be possible to be welcoming and receptive to actively listening to the partner. To be empathetic as a couple is also necessary to accept the differences, because it is easy to agree with those who have our same opinions or when they feel the same emotions. It is difficult to relate to diversity and accept that the emotional world or the opinions of the other have the same value as our own. Acceptance of the other, of its characteristics and its personality, it is undoubtedly an essential factor in the love relationship and empathy can certainly come to our aid.
Therefore, empathy is a very important capacity in the couple, it increases the degree of intimacy and mutual proximity and it is an opportunity for growth not only for relationship, but for the people who are part of it: feeling welcomed, respected and not judged are necessary moments for the psychological well-being of each one. In this article, you will find more information about empathy in the couple.
Empathy at work.
In any work context, it is essential to develop empathic listening, that is, a conscious listening based on the desire to create a strong team, so that a union between personal well-being and productivity can be created. When empathy is lacking, it is difficult to work well: those who fail to create solid relationships with their colleagues do not feel like an integral part of a team. It is an attitude that is not only good for the employee, who feels increasingly unmotivated, but also for the company, which should increase the well-being and gratification of the staff.
Empathy in animals.
It is not just instinct: animals experience emotions, they know who they are and they know exactly how to behave with others. It is the result of a study[1] carried out by a group of Italian researchers, published in the prestigious journal "Royal Society Open Science", which confirms it, which also demonstrates the existence of an empathetic bond between us and our animal friends. In particular, it would be a one-way circuit, since it is the man who empathically influences the the animal, transmitting values and thoughts, without being able to authentically perceive what he feels, and not contrary.
This article is merely informative, in Psychology-Online we do not have the power to make a diagnosis or recommend a treatment. We invite you to go to a psychologist to treat your particular case.
If you want to read more articles similar to Types of empathy: characteristics and examples, we recommend that you enter our category of Social psychology.
References
- Palagi, E., Nicotra, V., Cordoni, G. (2015). Rapid mimicry and emotional contagion in domestic dogs. Royal Society Open Science, Dec 23; 2 (12): 150505.
Bibliography
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- Centonze, S. (2018). Empathy ed emozioni negli uomini e negli animali. Recovered from: https://www.stefanocentonze.it/8345-empatia-emozioni-uomini-animali/
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