Importance and Benefits of Empathy

Importance and Benefits of Empathy Theories Social Psychology Print Importance and Benefits of Empathy By Kendra Cherry facebook twitter Kendra Cherry, MS, is an author, educational consultant, and speaker focused on helping students learn about psychology. Learn about our editorial policy Kendra Cherry Reviewed by Reviewed by Amy Morin, LCSW on November 27, 2019 facebook twitter instagram Amy Morin, LCSW, is a psychotherapist, author of the bestselling book 13 Things Mentally Strong People Dont Do, and a highly sought-after speaker. Learn about our Wellness Board Amy Morin, LCSW on November 27, 2019 Jose Luis Pelaez Inc/Getty Images More in Theories Social Psychology Behavioral Psychology Cognitive Psychology Developmental Psychology Personality Psychology Biological Psychology Psychosocial Psychology In This Article Table of Contents Expand Types Explanations Benefits Influences View All Back To Top Empathy involves the ability to emotionally understand what another person is experiencing. Essentially, it is putting yourself in someone elses position and feeling what they must be feeling. When you see another person suffering, you might be able to instantly envision yourself in the other persons place and feel sympathy for what they are going through. While people are generally pretty well-attuned to their own feelings and emotions, getting into someone elses head can be a bit more difficult. The ability to feel empathy allows people to walk a mile in anothers shoes, so to speak. It permits people to understand the emotions that others are feeling. For many, seeing another person in pain and responding with indifference or even outright hostility seems utterly incomprehensible. But the fact that some people do respond in such a way clearly demonstrates that empathy is not necessarily a universal response to the suffering of others. Types of Empathy The term empathy was first introduced in 1909 by psychologist Edward B. Titchener as a translation of the German term einfühlung (meaning feeling into). While sympathy and compassion and are related to empathy, there are important differences. Compassion and sympathy are often thought to involve more of a passive connection, while empathy generally involves a much more active attempt to understand another person. There are also different types of empathy that a person may experience: Affective empathy involves the ability to understand another persons emotions and respond appropriately. Such emotional understanding may lead to someone feeling concerned for another persons well-being, or it may lead to feelings of personal distress.Somatic empathy involves having a sort of physical reaction in response to what someone else is experiencing. People sometimes physically experience what another person is feeling. When you see someone else feeling embarrassed, for example, you might start to blush or have an upset stomach.Cognitive empathy involves being able to understand another persons mental state and what they might be thinking in response to the situation. This is related to what psychologists refer to as theory of mind, or thinking about what other people are thinking. How Theory of Mind Helps Us Understand Others Explanations Human beings are certainly capable of selfish, even cruel, behavior. A quick scan of any daily newspaper quickly reveals numerous unkind, selfish, and heinous actions. The question then is why dont we all engage in such self-serving behavior all the time? What is it that causes us to feel anothers pain and respond with kindness? Several different theories have been proposed to explain empathy. Neuroscientific Explanations Studies have shown that specific areas of the brain play a role in how empathy is experienced. More recent approaches focus on the cognitive and neurological processes that lie behind empathy. Researchers have found that different regions of the brain play an important role in empathy, including the anterior cingulate cortex and the anterior insula. Research suggests that there are important neurobiological components to the experience of empathy. The activation of mirror neurons in the brain plays a part in the ability to mirror and mimic the emotional responses that people would feel if they were in similar situations. Functional MRI research also indicates that an area of the brain known as the inferior frontal gyrus (IFG) plays a critical role in the experience of empathy. Studies have found that people who have damage to this area of the brain often have difficulty recognizing emotions conveyed through facial expressions.   Emotional Explanations Some the earliest explorations into the topic centered on feeling what others feel allow people to have a variety of emotional experiences. The philosopher Adam Smith suggested that sympathy allows us to experience things that we might never otherwise be able to fully feel. This can involve feeling empathy for both real people and imaginary characters. Experiencing empathy for fictional characters, for example, allows people to have a range of emotional experiences that might otherwise be impossible. Prosocial Explanations Sociologist Herbert Spencer proposed that sympathy served an adaptive function and aided in the survival of the species. Empathy leads to helping behavior, which benefits social relationships. We are naturally social creatures. Things that aid in our relationships with other people benefits us as well. When people experience empathy, they are more likely to engage in prosocial behaviors that benefit other people. Things such as altruism and heroism are also connected to feeling empathy for others. Benefits of Empathy There are a number of benefits of being able to experience empathy. Some of these include: Empathy allows people to build social connections with others. By understanding what people are thinking and feeling, people are able to respond appropriately in social situations.Empathizing with others helps you learn to regulate your own emotions. Emotional regulation is important in that it allows you to manage what you are feeling, even in times of great stress, without becoming overwhelmed.Empathy promotes helping behaviors. Not only are you more likely to engage in helpful behaviors when you feel empathy for other people; other people are also more likely to help you when they experience empathy. Influences Not everyone experiences empathy in every situation. Some people may be more naturally empathetic in general, but people also tend to feel more empathetic towards some people and less so towards others. Some of the different factors that play a role in this tendency include: How people perceive the other personHow people attribute the other individuals behaviorsWhat people blame for the other persons predicamentPast experiences and expectations Research has found that there are gender differences in the experience and expression of empathy, although these findings are somewhat mixed. Women score higher on empathy tests, and studies suggest that women tend to feel more cognitive empathy than men. At the most basic level, there appear to be two main factors that contribute to the ability to experience empathy: genetics and socialization. Essentially, it boils down the age-old relative contributions of nature and nurture. Parents pass down genes that contribute to overall personality, including the propensity toward sympathy, empathy, and compassion. On the other hand, people are also socialized by their parents, peers, communities, and society. How people treat others as well as how they feel about others is often a reflection of the beliefs and values that were instilled at a very young age.   Why People Lack Empathy A few reasons why people sometimes lack empathy: They fall victim to cognitive biases. Sometimes the way people perceive the world around them is influenced by a number of cognitive biases. For example, people often attribute other peoples failures to internal characteristics, while blaming their own shortcomings on external factors. These biases can make it difficult to see all the factors that contribute to a situation and make it less likely that people will be able to see a situation from the perspective of another.People tend to dehumanize victims. Many also fall victim to the trap of thinking that people who are different from them also dont feel and behave the same as they do. This is particularly common in cases when other people are physically distant. When they watch reports of a disaster or conflict in a foreign land, people might be less likely to feel empathy if they think that those who are suffering are fundamentally different than they are.People tend to blame victims. Sometimes when another person has suffered thro ugh a terrible experience, people make the mistake of blaming the victim for his or her circumstances. This is the reason why victims of crimes are often asked what they might have done differently to prevent the crime. This tendency stems from the need to believe that the world is a fair and just place. People want to believe that people get what they deserve and deserve what they get â€" it fools them into thinking that such terrible things could never happen to them. Why Do People Blame the Victim? A Word From Verywell While empathy might fail sometimes, most people are able to empathize with others in a variety of situations. This ability to see things from another persons perspective and sympathize with anothers emotions plays an important role in our social lives. Empathy allows us to understand others and, quite often, compels us to take action to relieve another persons suffering.