More handpicked essays just for you.
Essay about empathy
The relationship between emotional intelligence
The relationship between emotional intelligence
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
Many mysteries revolve around the idea of empathy. It is similar in complexity to the concept of emotion. (Brothers, L. 1989) Because of its complexity, a significant number of studies have been produced from philosophy, neuroscience, developmental, social, and personality psychology in order to more thoroughly identify the concept of empathy from multiple perspectives (Preston, S. D., & De Waal, F. B. M., 2002),
The word empathy itself has been used to describes a multitude of different phenomena, such as cognitive and affective actions. Despite their similarities, these occurrences are not facets of a particular and strict definition of empathy (Ickes, W.J., & Decety, J., 2009). In other words, this trait’s vagueness creates uncertainty
…show more content…
The biological perspective, when it relates to the trait of empathy. focuses on the genetic reasons for why empathy has evolved to become a necessary human personality trait. In this perspective, it is believed that the development of empathy has assisted in the survival and evolution of the human race. With empathy, a person notices changes in the emotions of their surroundings. This connects to the detection of abnormalities, such as dangerous or threatening situations. At this cue, a person can signal a group to avoid the danger and move to safety (McDougall, W., 1908/1923).
Correlates. Based on Mcdougall’s theory (1908/1923), empathy correlates to sympathy. Mcdougall said that it is the cement that holds animal societies together. Sympathetic members of groups look to only enact actions that are harmonious to the rest of the group’s. As a result, this allows the group to receive the most beneficial outcome out of an event, since the feelings and thoughts of others can be easily
…show more content…
Having empathy as a trait comes with conceiving a specific set of moral standards for one’s self. One perspective on empathy states that the development of empathy is based on an individual’s need to satisfy their ideal and ought selves, what they wish to be and what they believe they should be (Houston, D. A., 1990). This is where the theory of self-discrepancy comes into play. As a person’s ideal and ought selves develop, they wish to satisfy the standards and morals that they have created for themselves. Higgins (1987) states that self-discrepancy occurs when characteristics of a person’s actual self fail to meet up with the standards of the ideal or ought self. This causes emotional discomfort to arise, since, the person is aware that they are not who they wish to be.
In order to avoid these unwanted feelings, an individual may begin to develop the empathetic trait. This results in a person developing varying levels of concern for self-discrepancy. A person with high self-discrepancies for their actual and ought self feels concern when faced with another who is agitated as well as despondent, compared to those with low self-discrepancies, who feel little to no remorse towards the negative emotions of others (Houston, D. A.,
The article Empathy as a Personality Disposition written by John A. Johnson delves into the idea of what comprises one's personality in order to explore the idea of empathy as a behavioral talent. We are introduced to the concept of personality through the lens of experimental social-psychology. This perspective presents the idea that the perceived sincerity of a front as well as the clues to a person's inner personality is based on the verbal and involuntary nonverbal mannerisms that the audience automatically picks up from an individual's performance. It also indicates that these fronts are selected as a result of the combination of an individual's inherit talents and the larger influence of the world around them. The article also explores
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.
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.
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
Empathy is a really important aspect in a child’s life, as it helps them understand their emotions, increases prosocial behavior, as well as helps preschoolers understand others emotions while interacting with their peers. Facial expressions are another part of child’s understanding of what’s going on with another person’s emotions. An encouragement for the child during preschool years is crucial in order for the child to learn and regulate certain behaviors. However, during the preschool years children are able to communicate a limited amount of emotions they are feeling through the help of the teachers, and by interacting with their peers (Prosocial Behavior, 2002) As the child is growing they will interact more with peers, which will lead them to understand their interests and abilities. They are able to communicate their likes and dislikes during the preschool stage. During the early years many theorists had suggested that young children are too egocentric, and cannot understand or perform empathy (Bierhoff, 2002). However, recent studies have clearly stated that young children are capable of displaying many different types of behaviors, which show empathy towards others, and motivates them to have a prosocial behavior. However, it is a challenge for preschoolers to communicate while showing empathy, as they have limited amount of language they can use. A very common way of knowing whether a preschooler is showing empathy is by observing their reaction to another child’s stress (Prosocial Behavior, 2002).
Furthermore, Jeremy Rifkin writes “The Age of Reason is being eclipsed by the Age of Empathy,”(qtd. in Huffington 551). As the years go by, the sign of empathy within humans increase. The increase of empathy is valuable but, there is not reason behind the empathy. Rifkin makes the case that
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
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
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.
Empathy, is a self-conscious characteristic human beings hold that allows them to understand another individual’s situation and feelings (Segal, Cimino, Gerdes &Wagaman, 2013). In regard to ho...
Empathy is one of the great mysteries of life. Why do people feel empathy? Do others deserve empathy? Is feeling empathy a strength or weakness? These questions may forever go unanswered, or they may not even have an answer. Even if they are answered, they may only be speculation. One author shows his take on the matter with one of his books. In The Hobbit, J.R.R. Tolkien uses Gollum and Thorin to show that people do deserve empathy, no matter how horrible they may be.
Empathy is the ‘capacity’ to share and understand another person’s ‘state of mind’ or their emotion. It is an experience of the outlook on emotions of another person being within themselves (Ioannides & Konstantikaki, 2008). There are two different types of empathy: affective empathy and cognitive empathy. Affective empathy is the capacity in which a person can respond to another person’s emotional state using the right type of emotion. On the other hand, cognitive empathy is a person’s capacity to understand what someone else is feeling. (Rogers, Dziobek, Hassenstab, Wolf & Convit, 2006). This essay will look at explaining how biology and individual differences help us to understand empathy as a complex, multi-dimensional trait.
Before reading these chapters, and listening to the lectures I had thought empathy was the same thing as sympathy. This brought me back to my first counselling session. It was about ten years ago, and I was telling the counsellor all about my problems at the time. When I looked over to see what she had to say, she was bawling her eyes out beside me. I had always assumed that is what empathy looked like, because I never understood the difference between the two, until now.
On Tuesday 6:30am an old friend of my mine that I knew for 20 years in NY, past away due to a heartatach, it was a shock to my self and all his family. I flew out to New York, trying to put my self together as it just hit me I will never see him again or hear his remarks about my way of life. All of the sudden I realized if I feel like that how will his children feel, how will there stepmother feel, and I remember yes they just lost their mom few years ago and now their dad. I started feeling sorry for them. I realized I am feeling sympathy for the kids and wife, I was thinking that they are remember their father with pain. I did not think as an empathetic person that maybe they are remembering their father with pain but also with the pleasure, he brought to their life.
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).