Empathy is a caring reaction a person feels in response to witnessing another person’s feelings or suffering. Having empathy feels like sharing someone else’s emotional state and understanding where they’re coming from.
It’s thought to be hardwired in the human brain. Studies have shown that when one person pricks their finger, observers experience activation in pain regions of their brains. Their pain response mirrors the brain activity in the person who actually got hurt.
Empathy is a complex process that involves:
- Sharing the experience of another person’s feelings
- Identifying and understanding others’ emotional experiences on an intellectual level
- Seeing from another person’s perspective
- Feeling concern and compassion for another
- Feeling distressed or uncomfortable witnessing someone else’s negative emotions
- Reacting emotionally in a way that is appropriate to others’ emotions
- All while recognizing that you and the other person are separate people and the emotions belong to them, not you
Empathy plays an important role in the way we interact with and cooperate with people around us. One researcher describes it as an “emotional bridge” between people.
- What are the types of empathy?: Cognitive empathy is when you can accurately notice and understand the feelings of others. Affective empathy is when you share another person’s emotional state — feeling what they’re feeling. Sympathetic empathy is caring about the way someone else feels.
- What are the benefits of empathy?: Empathy is an important tool that helps people cooperate and navigate social situations throughout their lives, including in many different jobs. For example, it helps doctors, nurses, and healthcare workers provide better care for patients. Cognitive empathy is associated with an increased ability to regulate emotions. People with sympathetic empathy tend to have more prosocial behavior and less aggression and psychopathic traits.
- What triggers empathy?: An empathetic reaction is usually triggered by someone else’s behavior. Triggers could be hearing someone cry or scream, seeing someone’s facial expression or body posture, or learning about someone’s feelings in another way. Brain researchers have found that people who have more empathy as a trait will unconsciously mimic other people’s posture, facial expressions, and mannerisms more than those with lower empathy.
- Who has empathy?: The human brain evolved to experience empathy, and most people have it to some degree. Some people have a greater tendency to feel empathy than others. But empathy can also be learned, and empathy training can increase a person’s levels.
- Who doesn’t have empathy?: People with certain brain conditions have an impaired ability to experience empathy, including those with psychopathy, autism spectrum disorder (ASD), Alzheimer’s disease, and frontotemporal dementia.
Take a deeper dive into empathy and related topics by exploring these articles on Relationship Smart:
- Listening to Your Partner’s Feelings: 5 Ways to Show Empathy
- What Is Emotional Safety and How to Create It in Your Relationships
- 8 Signs That Couples Therapy Is Making Your Life Better
- What Is Co-Regulation? Definition and Tips
- Reading Literary Fiction May Make You More Emotionally Intelligent
- Why Self-Compassion Is Key for Your Relationships: Expert
Science writer and founder of Relationship Smart. A bad boss once scoffed at her decision to study psychology, calling it "pseudoscience." She's had a chip on her shoulder ever since. This website is her response — because the world of our minds is real, important, and studyable. Relationship Smart is here to answer all your burning questions about relationships with scientific rigor and sensitivity.