Empathy and Non-Verbal Communication

719 Words2 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Roles of non verbal communication in interpersonal communication

Empathy develops overtime in a bonding relationship. Empathy is being able to understand the feelings another person is undergoing. In the Human Relationships Encyclopedia it states “empathy is a psychological phenomenon that at least temporarily unites the separate social entities of self and other.” (Human Relationships, 515) Two different types of empathy are cognitive and emotional empathy. Cognitive empathy is when a person tries to understand the feels of another, while emotional empathy is when people share similar emotions and feelings. Empathy can lead to different behaviors including taking actions to find a solution in a crisis. Empathic accuracy is when a person tried to make the correct inference over another being and tries harder to act correctly in a crisis.

Non-verbal communication consists of interaction between body language and facial expression. Facial expressions are the initial factor to expressing emotion between beings. Animals interact with each other by using non-verbal communication. Nonverbal communication is important in building a relationship. Interactions between humans can be assisted by eye contact, close distances, and direct contact. Non-verbal communication appears in human development. The amount of time spent between relationships can be a main component to building a successful relationship and lead to closeness.

Empathy is a main component that influences Eliza to use non-verbal communication to be able to make the correct inference. Empathy is what makes Eliza determined to be able to understand the animals. Eliza shows empathy by sharing the same emotions as the animals. In the Human Relationship Encyclopedia it states “Another important way in which empathy influenc...

... middle of paper ...

...ching the electric fence, she is reminded about the fact the African safari man had told her and taps the elephant behind the ear making the elephant turn around. Since the man was willing to spend the time studying the interaction of elephants, he has cognitive empathy. He was able to understand the mental level of the elephants. Eliza was able to take advantage of the cognitive empathy to find a solution to the crisis.

Humans are in need of building a relationship with animals by studying animal life, spending time with animals, and with this advice we will be able to make the correct inference. By doing this, we will be able to have both cognitive and emotional empathy for animals. Non-verbal communication can be seen as as the main aspect to building relationships with animals, but empathy and making the correct inference is what creates a stronger bond.

Show More
Related

  • Examples Of Empathy In Fahrenheit 451

    1029 Words  | 3 Pages

    Empathy is the ability to understand and share the feelings of others. Compassion and empathy inspire change in a society whether it be changing individual’s usual way of thinking, uniting, or accepting those who are different. Individuals can use their compassion for something to cause a change in someone else’s thought of that thing. Several people have used empathy to bring others feelings together. People can also use empathy to show others to have acceptance towards ones who may not be like themselves.

    Read More

  • Lispector's The Buffalo

    1044 Words  | 3 Pages

    The short story “The Buffalo” by Clarice Lispector shows us some important things about animal anthropomorphism. Firstly, the attribution of human emotions to animals allows us to more easily empathize with them. Through this, we are able to create intimate bonds with our pets and other animals. Since language figures so heavily into our understanding of empathy, several researchers, such as Hockett and Tomasello, have spent years investigating animal communication and how it relates to human language. Anthropomorphism, while it causes problems such as the devalorization of animal emotions and misattribution, also affords us the opportunity to learn more about ourselves, through the reflection of our own emotions. In this sense, anthropomorphizing animals can be a very useful tool for us, just as it was for the woman in “The Buffalo.”

    Read More

  • Electric Sheep

    801 Words  | 2 Pages

    Empathy is the feeling that you understand and share another person's experiences and emotions: the ability to share someone else's feelings. Can something besides a human have empathy? Empathy is the main theme of Do Androids dream of Electric Sheep, and is the question of the whole novel. Each character in the novel has to figure out what it means to be empathetic and whether or not that allows someone to be seen as a human being. Animals and empathy play hand in hand when they test people to see if they are human they use animals in their test to see if there is a reaction. The animals in the story that have great meaning of empathy are the sheep, the owl and the goat. Animals are a great part of society in and out of the book, without animals a lot would be lost. They represent wealth, companionship, hope, and most importantly a living life. Any phase of loneliness can teach people to use their imagination, figure out their values, and feel empathy for others.

    Read More

  • Empathy

    658 Words  | 2 Pages

    Empathy is the term used for emotional understanding. Empathy is a special skill that many characters in To Kill a Mockingbird possess or develop throughout the course of the story. Harper Lee shows the importance of empathy throughout the novel To Kill a Mockingbird by Atticus being empathetic, Atticus teaching the kids to empathize or them empathizing themselves in certain situations. Empathy is truly the great gift of humanity.

    Read More

  • Racial Empathy

    976 Words  | 2 Pages

    To be able to understand how empathy works between a certain group of people, it is necessary to know what empathy means. I found an interesting definition of empathy, as a crucial component of the helping relationship, a need to understand people ' distress, and to provide supportive interpersonal communication. Empathy is the ability to recognize the emotions of others. Empathy does not mean that we live other people’ emotions, but it means that we understand other people ' emotions from our experiences. Empathy does not mean to cancel your personality, but to understand how people perceive the reality. It is the ability to read information coming through nonverbal channels. In this

    Read More

  • Empathy Learning to Listen and Understand Others: Daniel Coleman

    1294 Words  | 3 Pages

    Empathy is an important part of the human experience. When we empathize we connect with others, feel what they are feeling, understand others, love and feel loved. People want to be heard and understood, even if their viewpoints differ from those of another person. There was a time when families engaged each other in dialogue. Thoughts, ideas, and beliefs were shared face to face, without being concerned that judgment was being passed. We live in a world today that has access to information in the single click of a computer mouse. Hidden in anonymity behind a computer monitor we can lose the ability to effectively communicate with other human beings. Sometimes that anonymity makes us bolder in our conversations and less concerned about the opinions, feelings, and views of other people. Does the opinion of someone else really matter? Do we really care what other people think? Is the way in which we view another person skewed when we fail to exercise empathy? These are some of the questions we must ask when determining if we are an effective empath. Willingness to listen and understand the thoughts of another person enriches our life and makes us a better person and contributor to the progression of the human family. Learning to empathize is the key to understanding and becoming an active listener. Without empathy as a part of our communication skill set our thinking will be short sided and narrow.

    Read More

  • Difference Between Empathy And Sympathy In Alice Walker's Everyday Use

    824 Words  | 2 Pages

    ​Burton defines empathy as the ability to not only recognize but also to share another person’s or a fictional character’s or a sentient beings’ emotions. It involves seeing a person’s situation from his or her own perspective and then sharing his or her emotions and distress (1). Chismar posits that to empathize is basically to respond to another person’ perceived state of emotion by experiencing similar feelings. Empathy, therefore, implies sharing another person’s feeling without necessary showing any affection or desire to help. For one to empathize, he or she must at least care for, be interested in or concerned about

    Read More

  • Empathy In Fahrenheit 451

    1052 Words  | 3 Pages

    Empathy is used to create change in the world by reaching out to the emotions of people and attending to them. It is used to help others learn and decide on matters that would not be reasonable without feelings attached to them. Empathy helps bring together communities that would have long ago drifted apart, but instead welcomed all who were different. Empathy is the ability to understand and share the feelings of another. This attribute of human-beings really allows us to not only attend to situations as if they were our own, but it allows us to feel most of what others feel because humans are very much alike in some ways. In many of the articles and novels that we have read this quarter, characters from different pieces of context have portrayed empathy whether it was toward

    Read More

  • The Reflection Of Empathy, By Stephen Dunn

    755 Words  | 2 Pages

    Empathy is imperative to teach kids from a young age in order to help them recognize mental states, such as thoughts and emotions, in themselves and others. Vital lessons, such as walking in another’s shoes or looking at a situation in their perspective, apprehends the significance of the feelings of another. Our point of view must continuously be altered, recognizing the emotions and background of the individual. We must not focus all of our attention on our self-interest. In the excerpt, Empathy, written by Stephen Dunn, we analyze the process of determining the sentiment of someone.

    Read More

  • Pro-social Behavior

    373 Words  | 1 Pages

    Another reason that individuals engage in these helping behaviors is that they have Empathy for others. The term Empathy refers to a persons ability to understand the needs and feelings of other people because they share in those feelings. And for sometime Empathy has been considered a significant factor in promoting positive behavior towards others.

    Read More

  • Nonverbal Communication Observation

    542 Words  | 2 Pages

    Nonverbal communication is rich in meaning. Everyone communicates through nonverbal gestures and motions. I realized that you can decipher a lot from an individual or individuals by just paying close attention to what they do, and that words are not really necessary. Watching two people interacting, I figured that they are really close by their space communication, eye language, and body movements.

    Read More

  • The Importance of Being a Competent Communicator

    1108 Words  | 3 Pages

    Non-verbal communication decodes messages using body language and facial expressions. Therefore, non-verbal communication is a type of language as its own that can be used universally. This includes, touching behavior, proximity, eye contact, gestures and many more. Furthermore, non-verbal communication can be misinterpreted as well because people from other countries has different ways of interpreting gesture...

    Read More

  • Reflective Essay On Empathy

    865 Words  | 2 Pages

    The dictionary definition of Empathy is the psychological identification with or vicarious experiencing the feelings, thoughts, and attitudes of others. Simply put, empathy is the ability to step into someone else’s shoes, be aware of their feelings and understand their needs. In the workplace, empathy can show a deep respect for co-workers and show that you care, as opposed to just going by rules and regulations. An empathic leadership style can make everyone feel like a team and increase productivity, morale and loyalty. Empathy is a powerful tool in the leadership belt of a well-liked and respected executive (Pressley, 2012).

    Read More

  • Empathy and Why it is Important in Education

    1930 Words  | 4 Pages

    Empathy is the ability to imagine yourself in someone else’s position and to intuit what that person is feeling (Pink, 2006). Rather than simply sympathizing, empathy enables us to put ourselves into the shoes of another and actually feel what they are feeling. This vicarious sense allows us to better understand people and their experiences. Understanding others and their experiences is vital in education. Whether dealing with different races, religions, sexes, etc., empathy provides us with an avenue to widespread understanding of others that even language cannot.

    Read More

  • The Reflection Of Verbal And Nonverbal Communication

    716 Words  | 2 Pages

    I learned a lot about Human Communication in this class when I read the chapter about Nonverbal Communication. Nonverbal Communication is the process of using messages that are not words to generate meaning. I learned that it happens every day. I also learned that is very hard to read or understand depending on the person you are speaking to or with. Verbal and Nonverbal codes work in conjunction with each other. The words we speak or say are used in conjunction six different ways: to repeat, to emphasize, to complement, to contradict, to substitute, and to regulate. I never knew until reading this chapter that we do these things all most every time we communicate. These are things I took for granted until now. I now know that I will pay

    Read More

More about Empathy and Non-Verbal Communication

Open Document