Empathy : A Multi Dimensional Psychological Process

Empathy is a key helping value and has many definitions. According to Egan and Schroeder, empathy is a personality trait that allows a person to feel what others feel and have the ability to understand other people from the inside. It is also a state of feeling for others that is situation specific and can be a, “Feeling for and understand of another’s persons experiences” (Egan and Schroeder, 2009). Empathy is a “Basic value that informs and drive all helping behavior”, a communication skill and has three phases, empathic resonance, expressed empathy and received empathy (Egan and Schroeder, 2009).

What is empathy? Are you an empathic person? Skillsyouneed.com defines empathy, at its simplest, awareness of the feelings and emotions of other people. It is a key element of emotional intelligence, the link between self and others because it is how we, as individuals, understand what others are experiencing as if we were feeling it ourselves. This powerful force imbedded inside human being can be very meaningful to people of all ages, genders, and races. Empathy is very important in the healthcare because it promotes understanding others, caring for others, and feeling a sense of achievement.

In his book, Albrecht introduces the empathy model developed by Dr. George Thompson, to further explain and build on the concept of Empathy, as a part of our social intelligence. Dr. Thompson, who Albrecht described as a Renaissance man, wrote several books, created a series of seminars, and started an institute based on concepts of communication that he calls, “Verbal Judo.”

People in our society from all around the world have a wonderful gift of being able to understand each other’s feelings at a personal level. Empathy can be described in many different ways, but is hard to put into words what it all entails. Understanding how a person feels is just the surface of empathy. Empathy varies from person to person, and each person may describe it differently. Without a doubt, empathy is a vital part of society and it is important for people to be educated and truly understand and practice acting in empathetic ways. It takes personal experiences, research studies, and spiritual beliefs for empathy to be properly described.

In order to develop empathy, I believe, one must be able to understand how they feel

In the first chapter of our book, Batson introduces the seeming complexity of empathy as he lays out eight different uses of the word empathy (Decety & Ickes, 2009). However, later in the book, Rogers expresses the simplicity of empathy in his observation of the healing power from just the intense presence of a therapist (Decety & Ickes, 2009). It seems easy to get lost in the terms and definitions of empathy. We read terms such as “grasp”, “sort through”, & “resonance” and can become overwhelmed about the

The overall purpose of this article is to show how empathy and emotional experiences are linked. This article also gives various theories and ideas by world renowned psychologists. The theme of this article is how much empathy we have toward others in social experiences. A few new ideas and purposes of this article were when they talked about all the different Theories based on appraisal and empathy in certain situations. It’s really important to publicize these ideas because for one this stuff is very interesting, it could help others discover new approaches to situations, and it would very well help people themselves deal with empathy.

Have you ever sat down and thought about the true definition of Empathy. Have you ever looked it up? Do you care what empathy means. Merriam webster dictionary states that the definition of empathy is “the feeling that you understand and share another person's experiences and emotions : the ability to share someone else's feelings.” Though that's a good definition of the word empathy personally I believe that Empathy is a human instinct that allows people to feel and have the same emotions as someone or something. The ability to feel empathy is an important trait that we are born with and lose and gain as we age. As babies we don't fully understand the concept of other people and ourselves so if you observe an infant you can see that they feel emotions for everyone and thing around, for example if 2 babies are next to each other and one begins to cry you can see that the other one will get sad or even start crying as well.

Reevy (2010) hypothesized that there are five ways in which people demonstrate empathy. The first three are described as “primitive,” meaning they happen automatically, and include mimicry (copying someone else’s facial expressions and body movements), conditioning (feeling and showing the same emotions as someone else), and direct association (recalling when a similar situation happened to themselves). The last two are learned and require some practice. They include verbally mediated association (by reading or hearing something, one can visualize and feel the situation), and perspective taking (putting oneself in another person’s shoes) (Reevy, 2010). Additionally, Bruneau (2009) describes the three types of empathy as interactive (focused

Our ability to understand and experience other’s feeling is a core characteristic of empathy. It plays a crucial role in much of human social interaction and is an essential component for healthy coexistence (Eisenberg & Strayer, 1987). Theoretically, empathy can be divided into two sub-divisions: emotional empathy and cognitive empathy (Deutsch & Madle, 1975). Emotional empathy is the capacity to share and respond to the unique emotional states of another person (Batson,

Empathy is a key value in the role of the helper and is described one way by Egan and Schroeder as; a personality trait that allows a person to feel what others feel and have the ability to understand other people, from the inside. It is also a state of feeling for others that is situation specific and understanding another person’s experiences (Egan and Schroeder, 2009). Egan and Schroeder state empathy is, a basic value that informs and drives all helping behavior and a method of communication that involves three phases, empathic resonance, expressed empathy and received empathy (Egan and Schroeder, 2009).

One of the arguments in personal relationships and having empathy for others is that empathy is feeling that you understand and share another person's experience and emotions: the ability to share someone else's feelings, for example Nafisi says “I believe in the kind of empathy that is created through imagination and through intimate, personal relationships” (44). Some

The Puritans, who settled in America, believed that every human is inherently sinful unless saved by God, which is a similar belief of today's religions. Most religions believe that God or a prophet of God, will be the savior of the human race from, in terms of Christianity, original sin. This sin makes all humans, by default, sinful beings, this belief varies depending on the "faction of Christianity. This belief, however, conflicts with scientific discoveries in neuroscience and psychology. In both fields it has been found that humans have a natural empathy, or the ability to understand and share the feelings of another.

Not only is empathy an important P.R.I.D.E value, but it is also an important skill to have in life. To start off, if you are not familiar with the word empathy, it means to show compassion and to put yourself in other people’s shoes. First, having empathy is a skill that will help you succeed in many areas of life. The article, “Cool to be Kind” states, “Academics are important. But if you don’t have emotional intelligence, you won’t be as successful in work or in your love life.” This quote is saying that even if you have a 4.0 or drown yourself in work, without empathy, you will not succeed in life. When you get a job, you need to be able to work with people and understand them. As for a love life, not showing empathy towards

Most definitions of empathy are based on the same core idea - empathy is the ability to understand and identify someone else’s thoughts and feelings, as if they were one’s own (wordreference online dictionary, 2016). Although it’s been said “there are probably nearly as many definitions of empathy as people working on the topic.” (de Vignemont & Singer, 2006, p.435) suggesting that there is no singular way to even define empathy, let alone explain its impact on our behaviour. Due to the sheer depth and complexity of empathy it’s understandable that each discipline within psychology presents it’s own explanation for why we experience it, and how it can affect our interaction with the world around us. Psychologists have been exploring empathy for decades, in hope of gaining a complete grasp of what it means and how it can vary between each person, therefore its important we look at different psychological perspectives to try to understand it’s many dimensions.