What is empathy?
Empathy is the ability to recognize and understand what another person, animal, or even a fictional character is thinking or feeling. It is an attempt to identify with someone else's situation, perspectives, or experiences. Empathy is said to be about looking at things from someone else's point of view, rather than our own, and imagining ourselves in their place.
The word empathy has only been around for about 150 years. It is modeled on the German Einfühlung (from ein "in" + Fühlung "feeling"), which is a translation of Greek empatheia "passion, state of emotion." The concept comes from art theory, which holds that appreciation of art depends on the viewer's ability to project their personality into the viewed object.
Why is empathy important?
Developing empathy for others is crucial for establishing relationships and acting compassionately toward others. It is an essential skill to have in the workplace, and in our friendships, relationships, and everyday interactions with other people, helping us to connect with and relate to them in meaningful ways. Empathy is important because we all need to feel heard and understood, and to reciprocate by listening to and understanding others.
Not everyone displays empathy, instead disregarding others' feelings and emotions. In some cases, a deficit of empathy is associated with psychiatric conditions, including narcissism and anti-social personality disorders. A lack of empathy can underpin abuse and mistreatment, and also racism, sexism, and other forms of inequality. Empathy is not only about awareness of others but also self-awareness. Practicing empathy toward others can help us to avoid bias and prejudice in our thinking.
There are several related idioms that reveal the way we think about empathy. To "look at the world through someone else's eyes," emphasizes the importance of considering someone else's point of view. To "walk a mile in someone else's shoes" reminds us to try to understand a person's experiences and challenges before passing judgment on them.
Empathy is not necessarily about sharing feelings or emotions, or even agreeing with someone's beliefs or perspectives; it is about developing awareness and sensitivity to their feelings and understanding their thinking and motivations.
How can we build empathy?
During these times when we're all experiencing compassion fatigue, there are still some ways that we can cultivate empathy in ourselves to develop compassion toward others. We can encourage our sense of empathy by looking outside of ourselves and showing an interest in others, particularly those people who have different backgrounds. For example, consider what it's like to be a woman, an immigrant, an older person, or a person with a disability. When we talk with other people we can listen actively to their issues and concerns and learn through their experiences.
We should also recognize the equality of people who are different from us and see them as individuals rather than stereotypes, which define people by assumptions and do not acknowledge their diversity. We can look for the commonalities we share with others, to connect with them and create an empathetic bond. Finally, we can engage in self-reflection to examine our prejudices and challenge our preconceptions, because we all have unconscious biases.
I am the author of the new book On The Offensive: Prejudice in Language Past and Present.
