How empathy works - and sympathy can't

We can often get confused when we're trying to help somebody out of a tight spot... and can end up getting involved in a rescue attempt out of pity. Empathy allows us to help without diminishing the other person... in fact empathic responses from us help the other person to build self-sufficiency and confidence as they get to grips with their situation and options.

[roxymcrae]

This is really quite simple... Empathy= feeling someones feelings, whether you have experienced yourself is irrelevant, whether you do something to help is irrelevant. The point is simply that you have the ability to FEEL someone else's feeling (positive and negative feelings)
Sympathy= feeling sorrow because someone is hurting, or in a difficult/painful situation. Regardless whether you help them or not or have been in a similar situation or not, you feel your own sadness for their pain.
E.g I feel in my heart a pain (empathy) for my neighbour who has been evicted and is struggling to find a home, but i don't feel sorry (sympathy) for her as she probably shouldn't have broken all the windows and spray painted on the walls.

[jeremyreonason]

Why must everyone have a different definition and explanation for each of these?

[cardinalfox]

I'd differentiate it like this:
- Cognitive empathy: ablility to recognize someones emotions and the ability to understand why someone is feeling a certain way
- affective empathy: ability to feel someones emotion WITH them
- sympathetic empathy: a mix of both cognitive and affective. You recognize the emotion and feel the need to help them out of negative emotions. You offer support because you understand and feel their emotions.

I myself lack everything but cognitive empathy. I understand emotions and their causes, but never have felt someone elses emotions or have had the urge to actually console someone who is having a difficult time. I still try to help those people i like alot because i dont want to be seen as a bad person, but in truth i dont actually do it because i feel like it

[Cowface]

That’s really only cognitive empathy. True empathy is when you grab some gear, climb down into the pit of despair, and offer to help them get out

[PaperClipFlip]

Found this very enlightening, thank you!! 😊

[AtamMardes]

"Human beings are members of a whole; In creation of one essence and soul; If one member is afflicted with pain; Other members uneasy will remain; If you have no sympathy for human pain; The name of human you cannot retain."
Saadi Shirazi

[jackpotgpt]

This video really helped understand empathy. It took a while for it to click but I talk my journey to be empathetic on my YouTube channel. I’m not there yet but I have a long way to go

[unknowntbd]

2:30 only empathy has the power to get someone up and running again

[lifeobstacles]

Narration and animation really goes well and amusing to watch ❤

[bit_paul]

1:20 All good, except for "it's not your fault" belongs in empathy IMO, as that's constructive and allows someone to let go of the self-blame and become unstuck from established patterns.

[scotthullinger]

Empathy leads to correct action regarding others ... whereas sympathy often does NO such thing.

[nala]

I think crying is our purest form of empathy.
Boys are taught not to cry, so we stop doing it.
We're told to stop crying about our own pain and the pain of others, often animals, when we're little. So we eventually stop crying about the pain of others unless they die. We are taught to bury our empathy.

[buskingkarma]

I'm autistic so empathy really doesn't always come easy, and I can often get led into all kinds of trouble by following my heart/sympathy! Kinda why I'm here lol

[CXCMathClasses]

Why does this not have more views? lol

[Bill]

I'm spellbound by this. I read a book with similar content, and I was absolutely spellbound. "The Art of Meaningful Relationships in the 21st Century" by Leo Flint

[studsheep]

sympathy = you acknowledge the pain and you might offer help
empathy = you feel the pain and you're likely to offer help
apathy = didn't ask + don't care
sociopath = you acknowledge the pain and you're happy that they're suffering

[BlossomField]

I understand empathy as being able to imagine oneself in another person's shoes, sympathy is looking at another person in those shoes and thinking "oh that must be terrible, poor you."

I think a good example is probably gender. I think people, generally, empathize best with their own gender, but less so with the opposite gender. It's a problem in gender politics (when discussing issues like feminism or men's rights), heterosexual dating, etc.

I can honestly admit, as a woman, I have a hard time empathising with men on many issues, whereas other men can. Men often can't empathise with women, I'd argue they're even less able to do it than vice versa.

[Eforero]

And here I thought that:

Empathy was ACTUALLY FEELING what another was feeling, both good or bad feelings. Often times, with the latter, it leads one wanting to lessen the bad feelings in another in some way (because you are hurting along with them).

While sympathy is about UNDERSTANDING their feelings or situation, and why another may be hurting. IF there is any motivation to help the hurt person out, it's more likely from an intellectual or compassionate point of view.

Silly me!

[drewmartin]

Simple wisdom but I get in situations like this and I think I yield to the impulse to help them with my own ideas rather than the Holy Spirit asking and discerning where they are at and then bring a heart of empathy. Just want to fix them.

[HexoseMonophosphateCunt]

Basically entire course of psychologists and how therapists work in a nutshell.