EMOTIONAL EMPATHY: what it is, characteristics and examples

  • Jul 26, 2021
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Emotional empathy: what it is, characteristics and examples

The emotional side of empathy is known to everyone. It is the feeling of being able to feel what others feel. When we see someone suffering or going through a difficult time, we can instantly imagine their inner experience, based on our familiarity with pain or painful experiences.

Our feelings are resonating. Those with a high level of emotional empathy can establish strong bonds with others and have good chemistry in social relationships. This facilitates negotiations, teamwork, and virtually all job sharing. In this Psychology-Online article, we will see more precisely what is emotional empathy, its characteristics and some examples.

You may also like: Emotional awareness: what it is, characteristics, examples and activities

Index

  1. What is emotional empathy
  2. Characteristics of emotional empathy
  3. Examples of emotional empathy

What is emotional empathy.

In your emotional intelligence studies, Daniel goleman distinguishes between cognitive empathy and emotional empathy. Unlike the first, emotional empathy is a visceral emotion and

is tested through the body. Specifically, the meaning of emotional empathy refers to a faculty rooted in the distant past of evolution. We share this neural circuit with other mammals that, like us, must be very attentive to the signals of suffering sent by their little ones.

Emotional empathy operates in the oldest part of our brain, which is called the ascending system. most of the neural networks used to feel what others feel is directly under the cortex, in areas of the brain that "think fast" but not deeply. These circuits they connect us with those around us, causing in our body the same emotional states that we perceive in others.

The relationship that is created thanks to emotional empathy is deeper and he is able to understand and really feel within himself the sensations of other people. It has been scientifically proven that during this phase of empathy, there is a true reflection of the system neuronal that activates the same emotions in our brain circuits as the person we have in front of.

Therefore, emotional empathy goes a step further than cognitive empathy, since allows us to understand and even feel the moods of others on our skin, but not necessarily feel compassion for them. In this article, we tell you how to practice empathy in life.

Characteristics of emotional empathy.

Now that we have seen what emotional empathy is, it is important to know what aspects are typical of this affective reaction. Therefore, below, we will see the characteristics of emotional empathy:

  • Emotional empathy is more easily activated when the other looks like us or when, at least, we perceive an affinity that unites us. Instinctively, we are more likely to help and support our family members, the inhabitants of our neighborhood, the people who frequent our own place of worship or whose children play on the same soccer team as the our.
  • Empathy, such as is practiced in most peopleYou are often alive, healthy and in top shape when something happens to a person with whom you have a lot in common. On the contrary, emotional empathy can be weak or totally absent when the other is very different from you. Discover the traits of a person who has little empathy.
  • Emotional empathy too must be balanced with self-control so that we can handle excessive levels of emotional arousal that can blur boundaries and make us feel distressed. If you are exposed to too much pain every day, as is often the case with oncologists, social workers, and prison guards, excessive emotional empathy can cause depression, States of anxiety Y emotional exhaustion. In the medical setting, this wasting condition is called compassionate fatigue.

Examples of emotional empathy.

It has to be said that most people have the ability to feel emotional empathy. Let's look at some examples of emotional empathy to understand it better. Who among us has never seen someone cut themselves on a piece of glass? You will remember that when they did, you personally experienced a bit of that unpleasant sensation, a physiological emotional resonance. You can imagine the sharp wire of the glass cutting the skin. Perhaps the mere act of reading these words has evoked a bit of that feeling.

A real fact related to empathic emotional response is that we may shudder watching another person suffer, but your experience is not identical to theirs. If so, you would focus on her pain and probably not be able to help her. This sophisticated neurological system allows you to observe people who are suffering, but it makes you feel pain enough for you to consider helping.

What's more, emotional empathy teaches us what to avoid. If there were no internal representation of pain based on external observation, we would see what happens without learning anything from it. Rubbing a piece of glass on the skin would be the only way to know that it is not a good idea. Our species would be eternally amazed by the experience of being cut with glass.

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 Emotional empathy: what it is, characteristics and examples, we recommend that you enter our category of Emotions.

Bibliography

  • Camuffo, S. (2014). The empathy and empathic relationship. Recovered from: https://www.weplusnetwork.com/it_IT/l-empatia-e-la-relazione-empatica/
  • Goleman, D. (2015). Piccolo manuale di intelligenza emotiva. Milan: Etas.
  • Riess, H. (2020). Effetto empathy. Le 7 chiavi delle neuroscienze for transforming the way I love, love and communicate. Trento: Erickson.
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