Empathy. Empathy: what is this human ability. Types in psychology

Empathy is conscious empathy with another person in his emotional state. Therefore, an empath is a person who has a developed ability to empathize. The development of empathy occupies a significant place in the development emotional intelligence. It helps to understand a person’s emotional states, while focusing on gestures and facial expressions.

With the help of empathy, empathy makes it possible to understand the emotions of the interlocutor. It is desirable for those people who use communication in their work. For example, these are educators, psychologists, teachers, managers, doctors. Scientists note that the stage of development of emotional empathy ends in childhood. Fear is destructive to conscious empathy.

Empaths do not feel comfortable in a conflict situation; they do not tend to compete or defend their interests; more often they step aside. Empaths cannot easily get rid of fear, because they are very patient and look for their own ways to correct this condition. In the absence of the ability to cope with fear, it can accompany a person throughout his life, which will provoke panic attacks in the future.

Empathy and sympathy are interconnected. We are drawn to people who understand us well, and we push away those who are unable to understand us. Every person purposefully wants to see those people around him who will understand and accept him for who he is.

Developing Empathy

There are several levels of empathy and learning to develop conscious empathy is possible, but very difficult for those who have not mastered it before. It is impossible to turn the world upside down and change in an instant by starting to feel everything. This requires enough time to change beliefs and master conscious empathy.

The feeling of empathy does not refer to simple feelings and experiences. This is complete understanding, as well as awareness of the sensations that seem to be happening to you. The peculiarities of emotional empathy lie in the sensation of the subtle world of a completely alien life.

Developing empathy involves several levels. The first level is marked by the ability to highlight emotional gestures and notes. The tone of the voice can tell you what state a person is in and what he is feeling. This level shows the ability to accurately focus on a person’s emotional state.

Understanding empathy involves shifting the sensory world of sensations onto oneself. This is difficult to learn. To do this, you need to study facial expressions, body movements, and voice timbre. Start practicing on acquaintances, friends, first people you meet. Notice any little things: a hair on your jacket, untidiness, makeup on your face, hairstyle. This can tell a lot about a person. Master this skill.

The second level of training includes mastery of certain skills. This level is more difficult; it is important for students to transfer onto themselves the habits, sensations, body movements, and timbre of voice of the object that you need to feel. For easier integration into the image, a strong emotional reaction is required. It is important to carefully observe the person and imagine that you are him. Having merged with him completely, you can predict in advance what he will do. You will be able to live his life without thinking or judging what is wrong. You will become one with him and will experience the same emotions as him: love, pain, disappointment. This is difficult to learn, but possible. An empath eventually perceives the other person's feelings as their own. And these feelings are different.

The third level of training allows you to turn into a true empath. Empaths are able to not only feel other people's experiences, they know how to manage this state. The first possibility is the ability to quickly remove yourself from a negative state. The second comes down to the ability to bring your interlocutor out of a negative state. An empath has the ability to influence emotions.

Developing empathy makes it possible to communicate with people with ease and understanding. There are pros and cons to developing empathy. On the one hand, a person begins to understand people, and on the other hand, he turns into a more sensitive person, who is difficult for his interlocutor to resist in conflict situations.

Empathy level

Being a diverse concept, empathy has many levels within itself.

The first level of empathy is the lowest. People belonging to this level are focused on themselves, they are indifferent to the thoughts and feelings of other people. They rarely understand others and have difficulty establishing contacts; they feel awkward in a large unfamiliar company. The emotional manifestations of such people seem incomprehensible and also devoid of meaning. With a low level of empathy, people prefer solitary activities, bypassing teamwork. Representatives of a low level of empathy are supporters of precise formulations, as well as rational decisions. Such people have few friends, and those they have are distinguished by their clear minds and business qualities rather than sensitivity and responsiveness. People respond to such people in kind. Such people feel alienated because others do not indulge them with their attention. With a very low level of emotional empathy, a person finds it difficult to be the first to speak and keeps himself apart among colleagues. Often it is very difficult for him to have contact with children, as well as older people. In interpersonal relationships, an empath often finds himself in an awkward position, often does not find mutual understanding with others, and is very fond of thrills and art. He tolerates criticism painfully, but is able not to react to it.

The second level of empathy is the most common. Most people are indifferent to the thoughts and feelings of others, and only rarely show empathy. This level is typical for most people. People around them do not call them thick-skinned, but they do not consider them particularly sensitive either. Such people are not alien to manifestations of emotions, but in most cases they keep everything under control. In communication, they are often attentive, try to understand a lot, but sometimes lose patience. More often they prefer to remain discreetly silent because they are not sure that they will be understood. When reading works of fiction, as well as watching films, they are interested in the actions, and not the experiences of the characters. Such people are not characterized by relaxed feelings, which interferes with the full perception of people.

The third level of empathy is the highest. People with this level of empathy are quite rare. These people tend to understand strangers better than themselves. They make true loyal friends. Such people are sensitive to the problems and needs of others, very generous, and able to forgive a lot. They always treat people with interest. Such people are emotionally responsive, quickly establish contact, and very sociable. Colleagues and others appreciate such sincerity. People with the third level of empathy do not allow conflicts and always find compromise solutions and tolerate criticism with dignity. When assessing a situation, they trust their feelings and intuition more. They prefer to work with a team rather than alone. People with level three always desire social approval for their actions. However, such people are not always careful when performing precise and painstaking work. They are quite easy to throw off balance.

Types of empathy

Empaths are classified into the following types: non-empaths, weak empaths, functional empaths, professional empaths.

Non-empaths have completely closed their sensory abilities. Perhaps the expression of empathy has atrophied because they never used this ability. The feeling of empathy is unfamiliar to such people, and they do not even try to recognize it. They are unable to recognize non-verbal and verbal cues.

Weak empaths are in a state of constant stress, experiencing the heaviness of the world, other people's problems, fears due to emotional overload. Often, weak empaths quickly become physically exhausted and experience headaches.

Functional empaths are the most developed, they easily adapt to emotions, control them without letting them pass through themselves. This is a rare skill. Outwardly, functional empaths do not stand out from ordinary people.

Professional empaths easily recognize any emotions, even the most complex ones, hidden in the depths of the soul. Professional empaths are good at managing others' emotions. There are very few such people. They have the ability to relieve pain and lift your spirits.

Diagnosis of empathy

Diagnosis of empathy helps determine which qualities of an empath predominate in a person. This test is important when selecting personnel whose professional activities involve communicating with people. To study empathy, you can use the “Emotional Response Scale” technique. The test was developed by psychology professor A. Mehrabyan.

The “Emotional Response Scale” technique makes it possible to analyze general features empathy in the test taker. For example, the ability to empathize with another person.

Empathy in children

Through empathy, children gain experience learning about themselves and others around them. The child gradually accumulates sensory experience.

Empathy in children directly depends on the formation of empathy in parents. If parents have well-formed above-mentioned feelings, then their children will have a normal expression of empathy. It develops well in the child who received love and warmth from his parents. Children, thanks to their parents, can have well-developed altruism, because the formation of altruism begins in the family.

Compassion and empathy are not only the spiritual development of a child, but also a method for studying relationships between people. Relying on these feelings, children look at the people around them and try to find their own experiences in them. Thus, the education of empathy lies entirely on the shoulders of parents.

Empathy in teenagers

Parents and family have a huge influence on human development from the moment of birth. Family is an important component in the development of a person's life. Communication between children and parents plays a huge role in the development of empathy. A teenager cannot learn to empathize on his own due to lack of experience. He is still new to the feeling of pain. The development of empathy in adolescents is manifested in the lives of those children who were able to receive love, care, attention, and warmth in their family.

Empathy in adolescents is possible when parents understood the feelings and emotions of their children. Violation of contact with parents traumatizes the teenager’s psyche and negatively manifests itself in his development. Having emotional empathy means perceiving another person's world, their pain and happiness. A family that is based on feelings of trust is aimed at harmonious development teenagers' personalities. Therefore, it is worth considering that family relationships should always remain friendly.

To fully communicate with other people, a person must be able to understand their feelings and experiences. This is the key to building strong relationships in society. The ability that allows a person to share the emotions of other people is called empathy. Let's look at what empathy is, how it's useful, and whether it can be developed.

Empathy is a person’s ability to perceive the feelings and emotions of other people without identifying them with their own. Translated from Greek, the word “empathy” means “sympathy.” The term “empathy” appeared in psychology thanks to the American psychologist Edward Titchner, who studied this phenomenon and compiled a classification of the principles of empathy.

People who have the ability to empathize are called empaths. This ability is expressed to varying degrees in everyone - from weak to very strong. Some empaths become so deeply involved in the experiences of another person that they become completely absorbed in them, and begin to perceive other people's emotions as their own. But most empaths can empathize with another person without transferring their feelings onto themselves.

Empathy is a very valuable quality for representatives of such professions as a doctor, teacher, psychologist, psychotherapist, HR manager, enterprise manager, investigator, etc. Almost all professions focused on communicating with people require some degree of empathy and skill understand and feel the inner state of another person.

Types and levels of empathy

Edward Titchner identified several types of empathy - emotional, cognitive and predicative. Let's look at them in more detail.

• Emotional. This type of empathy is based on a person’s tendency to imitate the emotions of someone who is next to him, to sympathize with him, projecting his experiences onto himself. Most human communication is built on this type of empathy.
• Cognitive. In this case, an empath can not only feel the experiences of another person, but also perceive them from the position of reason - analyze, find patterns, and compare. This makes it possible to understand the interlocutor more deeply.
• Predicative. This type of empathy allows you to predict a person’s reaction to a particular situation. An empath can mentally put himself in the shoes of his interlocutor and understand what feelings and experiences a certain situation will cause in him.

In addition to types, there are also levels of empathy, each of which characterizes how capable a particular person is of empathy.

• Low level. People with low empathy are unable to perceive other people's experiences. They are focused only on their own feelings and emotions, so it is difficult for them to understand what another person is feeling. Such people are called emotionally callous. Usually they try to isolate themselves from others; their social circle is very narrow.
• Average level. Most people have an average level of empathy. At this level, a person is able to understand the experiences of others, but at the same time remains indifferent to their problems. Only close people evoke his sincere sympathy and desire to help.
• High level. A high level of empathy allows a person to well understand and feel the emotions of other people, but at the same time he knows how not to project them onto himself. Such people are usually sociable and easy to make contact. Possessing a high level of empathy, they expect the same manifestation from the people around them.
• Increased level. People with high levels of empathy are quite rare. Their peculiarity is the ability to experience other people's emotions as if they were their own. Because of this, a person has a lot of problems in life. He is very vulnerable and often feels guilty. However, if a person can cope with a heightened level of empathy, he can make an excellent specialist in the field of medicine or psychology.

Pros and cons of empathy

Like any phenomenon, empathy can be beneficial or harmful to a person. So, what are the pros and cons of the ability to empathize?

Pros:

• Thanks to the ability to understand others, a person can become good specialist in any field of activity related to people;
• the ability to think outside the box and find original solutions;
• the ability to provide support and assistance to others;
• the ability to recognize lies and insincerity;
• the ability to effectively resolve or avoid conflicts.

Cons:

• inability to show healthy aggression when necessary;
• emotional burnout;
• constant worry about other people's problems;
• tendency to mental disorders;
• other people may begin to take advantage of the person's kindness;
• increased anxiety and vulnerability.

How to develop empathy?

Empathy is an innate feeling and, to one degree or another, is inherent in the vast majority of people. With age, the ability to empathize can either strengthen or, conversely, weaken. It is easy to develop in children younger age, if you teach a child to sympathize with other people and animals, to understand other people's pain and suffering.

Trusting and warm relationships between family members help increase the child’s level of empathy. If adults teach a child to love nature, treat animals and plants with care, they explain that every living creature is in pain and may need help, the child will be able to develop the ability to empathize.

There are exercises to help develop empathy. They are suitable for both children and adults who want to increase their level of empathy. They are performed in a group consisting of several people. You can train together.

Exercise 1

To complete the exercise, you will need cards on which you need to write the names of different emotions - joy, anger, sadness, bewilderment, surprise, etc. Then the cards are distributed to the participants. Each of them must use gestures and facial expressions to depict the emotion indicated on his card. The rest of the participants must guess what emotion the person is trying to show.

Exercise 2

Participants are divided into pairs. One of them takes on the role of a monkey, and the other takes on the role of a mirror. The “monkey” should make faces, grimace and depict any emotions and feelings. The task of “Mirrors” is to repeat them as accurately as possible.

Exercise 3

One of the participants should pick up the phone (or imagine that he has a phone in his hands) and start having a conversation with an imaginary interlocutor. Before starting a conversation, he thinks about who he will “talk” with, but does not inform others about this. The task of the remaining participants is to guess who the interlocutor is (wife, friend, boss, client, mother, child, etc.).

Empathy is very useful quality and it can and should be developed. However, it should be understood that diving too deeply into the problems and experiences of other people can lead to dire consequences. Therefore, every empath must learn to sympathize with another person without projecting his emotions and feelings onto himself. The ability to distinguish between your own and other people's problems is the key to the emotional stability of an empath.

“Another person's soul is darkness,” we have heard this phrase since childhood. But how sometimes you want to understand and feel what is in another person’s soul. There is such a possibility, but for this you need to have a special ability - empathy.

This phenomenon is little studied, since most often a person himself is not aware of the manifestation of his empathic emotions, and psychology does not yet have enough effective methods to study intuitive processes. Currently, there are two points of view on the essence of empathy.

First point of view

Empathy is seen as understanding another person's experiences. Moreover, the assessment of the partner’s emotional state occurs precisely at the cognitive, rational level, as knowledge about his experiences. From this point of view, a killer may well have empathy if he has an idea of ​​what his victim is feeling. And a man who cheats on his wife is not bothered by the fact that he knows about her experiences.

This does not make the ability to empathize less important for a person, it turns into a powerful tool for people. Knowing all the pain points of a partner, such an empath can force a person to take actions that are beneficial to him. I think that this point is only partly true, otherwise the world would turn into a paradise for scoundrels, unprincipled politicians and unscrupulous businessmen. I'm an optimist, so I'm sure this is not the case.

Second point of view

Proponents of this point of view associate empathy with the special phenomenon of empathy. It is expressed in the fact that comprehension of the feelings of another person occurs not so much on a rational level, but on a deeper, intuitive-emotional level. In this case, the empath does not need to know what his partner is going through - he feels it. It may be less strong, bright and distinct, but it feels it. And therefore, he sincerely rejoices at someone else’s happiness and cries, feeling someone else’s grief. His stomach feels cold from fear that he is not the one experiencing, and he feels dizzy from a feeling of delight. loved one. If you are familiar with such sensations, then you have the ability to empathize.

This point of view, in my opinion, is more true. But in this case, empaths have not so many advantages as problems, because constantly feeling other people’s emotions is difficult purely psychologically.

It has been proven that everyone potentially has this ability, and it is innate, only in different people the level of its development is different. And often the ability to empathize is deliberately suppressed, because empathy often interferes with achieving success, impedes career growth, and from the point of view of many people, being an insensitive egoist or simply not giving a damn is much easier.

Psychological mechanisms of empathy

Empathy as an innate ability has a very ancient nature. Moreover, it is primary in relation to the understanding of words and statements. Once upon a time, the ability to sense the emotional state of other individuals played an important protective function and made it possible to instantly assess the degree of threat.

We can still observe the manifestation of empathy in higher animals, for example, in dogs and cats, and we are not only talking about the relationships between animals of the same species. People who have pets know that they perfectly understand the emotional state of both each other and their owner, naturally, without any words.

The antiquity of empathy as the most important ability for mutual understanding is also proven by its main mechanism - mental infection.

What is mental infection

This is a mental mechanism that arose at the dawn of evolution, which is defined as the mutual exchange of emotional states in a group of individuals or individuals. The manifestation of this mechanism can be seen by observing how a flock of birds takes off instantly and simultaneously. In people it is clearly visible in bouts of infectious laughter. And small children, without even understanding what the adults are talking about, begin to laugh with them.

Have you ever felt a dull irritation in a crowded public transport that just arose out of nowhere? This is the mechanism of mental contagion - the exchange of emotions of displeasure between people who find themselves deprived of their personal space.

This mechanism, in turn, is associated with the ability of humans and higher animals to intuitively read emotions from the smallest changes in a partner’s facial expressions, heart rate, breathing, sweating, etc.

Identification

This is an equally important, but “younger” mechanism of empathy. It was formed in the process of human evolution as a social being and, to a greater extent than mental infection, is associated with the rational sphere.

Identification is the ability to “try on” the social role of another person, to “get into his skin.” It plays an important role in organizing interaction in human communities. But the main condition for successful identification is the presence own experience. For example, a teacher can put himself in the student’s shoes and understand how the student feels when he is called to the board, because the teacher has relevant experience. But the student cannot identify himself with the teacher, because he has never been in his place.

Thus, identification not only enables the expression of empathy, but also limits it. That’s why children are often so cruel, as well as successful, prosperous people who have no experience of worrying about personal failures.

Decentration and reflection

These are the most rational mechanisms of empathy. Decentration can be defined as a person’s ability to accept a point of view different from his own. Not to agree with her, but to accept and look at the problem from this other person’s position. Having seen, for example, the situation through the eyes of a student who failed an exam, the teacher is able to understand and sympathize with the student.

Close to decentration is the phenomenon of social reflection, that is, the ability to see and evaluate one’s behavior from the point of view of other members of society. This assessment is important because people usually have a more or less distorted image of themselves and their relationships to others. Suffice it to remember that the first time we see ourselves on video or hear our voice in a recording, we are unpleasantly surprised.

Social reflection makes the process of empathy not only conscious, but also more objective.

Types of empathy

The ability to comprehend the feelings of another person not only has different degrees of expression and different levels of development, but also manifests itself in different ways. There are 3 types of empathy:

• Rational or intellectual. In it, the first place is conscious acceptance of the emotional state of the individual, up to its rational analysis. An important role in this type of empathy is played by associations with previously experienced situations, that is, with experience. A person reflects on his partner’s behavior, remembers a similar situation and experiences similar feelings. The effectiveness of this type of empathy depends on the richness of the individual's emotional experience. It is not without reason that they say that only those who have suffered themselves can understand a suffering person.
• Psycho-emotional empathy based on the mechanism of mental infection. It is most strongly expressed in people with increased sensitivity of the nervous system, sensitive people who are able to perceive emotional signals transmitted by a person with all senses. People prone to such empathy often do not realize this and suffer from their excessive sensitivity and nervous overload.
• Intuitive and predictive view. This is empathy aimed at the future. People endowed with it are able to empathize not only with the momentary feelings of their partners, but also to anticipate their emotional reactions to events that have not yet occurred, to their own actions that have not yet been completed. People with such empathy become sensitive to any action that may lead to undesirable consequences. For example, they try not to be late home, because they feel how worried the person who is waiting for them there will be.

People have the beginnings of all three types of empathy, but most often one or two are most pronounced. For example, if a person has developed the first and second types, then he does not need to rationalize his experiences.

How to develop empathy

Before answering this question, it’s worth figuring out whether you need it. After all, having this ability, a person experiences not only his own, but also other people’s emotions, which, alas, are often negative.

Why is empathy needed?

There are two important reasons why every person needs empathy. Firstly, without it a person will not be able to become not only successful, but even a full-fledged member of society. He will have problems interacting and communicating with other people. After all, without a developed ability for empathy, it is impossible to either understand the state of partners or adequately respond to their actions.

An individual deprived of this ability may not feel that he is inferior, and will begin to explain failures and problems in the team, in his personal life and with friends for a variety of reasons: his own unluckiness, the machinations of envious people and ill-wishers, simply an accident. After all, in order to understand his shortcoming, he needs to experience the need to empathize with other people.

The second reason is that people with high levels of empathy are not only vulnerable, but also the most valuable members of society, they are the ones about whom they say with envy: “A born psychologist!” Who will you go to “cry into your vest” - a soulless person or someone who is able to share your grief and support you in a difficult situation? Who would you call a friend faster? Who would you like to work with on the same team? Empaths often become the life of the party, informal leaders, and people listen to them not out of fear, but out of respect.

There are several more reasons why it is worth developing this gift of nature:

• By helping others and feeling their gratitude, a person increases his
• empathy is necessary for success in many professions: teacher and doctor, actor and sales manager, psychologist and manager;
• Possession of empathy increases the level of;
• An empath senses lies, so it is difficult to deceive him.

You can evaluate the pros and cons of empathy and make your choice consciously. But the whole point is that this ability is based on the innate qualities of a person; in its infancy, everyone has it. Therefore, it is better to develop it from childhood. But for an adult, who often suppresses any manifestations of empathy and compassion, this is much more difficult to do.

Realizing the value of empathy, society strives to form it in childhood, when the psyche is more flexible and pliable and when the main stereotypes of social behavior are laid down. Remember how many fairy tales, stories, poems that make kids empathize with the heroes. Who in childhood did not cry, sympathizing with the bunny, which was “abandoned by the mistress”, or the bear, which was dropped on the floor and its paw was torn off? Why are such “passive” verses needed? Why are they required to read such works as “Mumu” ​​and “Kashtanka” at school? One of the goals is to develop empathy, the ability to empathize and the ability to feel the pain of others.

Experience is important for empathy. How can children get it? Shouldn't we force kids to experience their own tragedies? But you can also learn someone else’s experience, empathizing with the characters in books and films.

As for adults whose empathy for some reason turned out to be undeveloped, this recipe will also suit them. You can read literature and watch films where there is room for compassion and empathy. But it’s more difficult with adults, because they often consciously suppress their feelings, are embarrassed by them, and are afraid of seeming overly sentimental and becoming vulnerable.

For those who have realized that they lack the ability to empathize in their lives, here are some tips:

• Learn to understand your feelings first, analyze them, ask yourself questions about why you experience this or that emotion. It is better to do this in the evening, remembering the past day.
• Be more attentive to your partners, learn to notice their emotional reactions to your words and actions. You can practice this by watching films and analyzing the feelings of the characters and their external manifestations.
• Try to put yourself in your partner's shoes, think about how you would feel in the situation the other person was in. Would your words offend you, make you sad, or, on the contrary, make you happy?
• Never refuse to listen to your partner, friend, colleague and try to understand his problem, feel his emotions.
• Get yourself a pet - puppies and kittens have the ability to awaken people's dormant capacity for empathy.

But the main condition, without which the development of empathy is impossible, is love and caring attitude towards others, and not only people. Only you can truly understand him, you can learn to empathize. One of the laws of social psychology is the law of attraction. Its essence is this: the better we treat a person, the better we understand him.

Psychologists distinguish 3 levels of empathy. It is believed that every person has empathy to one degree or another, even if it is very weakly expressed. Of course, we can introduce a concept such as “not an empath,” but from a psychological point of view this will be wrong. Congratulations, we are all empaths, but with different levels of perception.

Levels of empathy

1st level- the lowest is blindness to the feelings and thoughts of others. These are people to whom other people's feelings are indifferent. Such people are more interested in their own feelings; if they think that they know and understand others well, then they are often mistaken. However, their low level of empathy prevents them from realizing their mistake, and their own delusions can last a lifetime. Such people see the emotions of other people (with the help of facial expressions, gestures, behavior), but do not know how to understand them and transfer them to themselves.

I would call such people not empaths.

2nd level- episodic blindness to the feelings and thoughts of others, occurs most often. Characteristic of all personality types, although in different manifestations. These are midpoints between low and high levels of empathy. They feel something, empathize with their mood (oh, the weather is gloomy today; the plant is not feeling well; how I feel sorry for the homeless animal; oh, this aunt is definitely evil, she yells at everyone, she offended the boy, we should feel sorry for him). Or such empaths empathize only with a certain type of people (most often close ones). Strangers and their feelings are most often indifferent to them.

It is very easy to understand that you are average. You know how to empathize, see the emotions of other people, but you are interested in certain people, you cannot or for some reason do not want to empathize with everyone.

3rd level of empathy- the highest. This is a constant (every day), deep (complete) and accurate understanding of another person, a mental recreation of his experiences, a feeling of them as his own, a deep tact that facilitates a person’s awareness of his problems and acceptance right decisions without any imposition of your opinion or interests. To do this, you need to be able to renounce your “I” and build relationships on the principles of mutual trust and altruism. That is, this is the level that allows you to transfer all your emotions onto yourself, without judging another. It is a rare phenomenon among empaths when a person is completely immersed in the feelings of another person and is able to accurately convey what the person is feeling.

Levels of empathy Empathy in psychological science is understood as the ability to perceive the problems of other people as one’s own, while showing empathy.

Empathy in psychological science is understood as the ability to perceive the problems of other people as one’s own, while showing empathy. A developed sense of empathy makes a person sensitive, selfless and responsive. It must be admitted that not every person is capable of such experiences. Some individuals, on the contrary, are so focused on themselves that the problems of other people definitely cease to concern them. To reach a state of empathy, you need to be definitely a self-sufficient person. Let's take a closer look at the components of this concept.

Levels of empathy

Levels of empathy indicate the extent to which this quality is manifested in a particular individual. In psychological science, it is customary to distinguish the main three. Thus, you can try to analyze your own actions and actions.

Low level

A low level of empathy often occurs in indifferent people who are little affected by the suffering of others. It indicates that individuals are accustomed to taking care only of themselves. They have formed the habit of not paying attention to the emotional state of those around them. These people are usually completely immersed in some kind of everyday affairs and devote little time to emotions. Even their own feelings, with rare exceptions, remain quite unconscious and undisclosed. A person may not understand what is happening to him for a long time, deny his feelings and show intolerance towards the weaknesses of others. A low level of empathy does not allow you to empathize with people and participate in conversations where feelings are most active. The spiritual side of the personality develops poorly, since the person lacks the desire to analyze his own actions.

Intermediate level

Most people have it, regardless of their professional activity and position. The average level of empathy is characterized by the ability to provide support at the right time. Most people know how to listen to each other. Understanding comes from similar experiences, when one person clearly understands what another is currently experiencing. An average level of empathy means that a person is quite capable of understanding the experiences of another individual. However, she will not constantly focus attention only on these thoughts. Most people are able to console and provide timely support, without especially plunging into other people's problems. This is how the psychological defense reaction works: everyone is primarily concerned with their own circumstances, and difficulties happen to everyone.

High level

A high level of empathy is manifested by the desire to be as useful as possible to others. Such a person really worries if someone has been treated unfairly before his eyes. An individual tries to help in some way in any case, regardless of whether it is convenient for him or not. He prefers to interact with people carefully in order to exclude any possibility of offending his interlocutor. High levels of empathy are observed in a relatively small number of people. After all, in order to make empathy an important component of your life, you need to learn to think not only about yourself. Basically, people are so deeply immersed in their own problems that they do not find the moral strength to concentrate on the experiences of others for a long time.

Types of empathy

In psychology, it is customary to distinguish several main types of empathy. All of them are closely connected with each other and contribute to the revelation of mental strength. These types of empathy involve relationships with other people. Let's take a closer look at them.

Emotional empathy

It implies that we connect to the feelings of another person and begin to perceive them as our own. This state can be achieved when one person is deeply immersed in the experiences of another. At the same time, many people note that they begin to experience the same torment as their interlocutor. In most cases, this type of empathy is formed against the background of shared experiences. A person is only able to understand another when he himself, to one degree or another, has experienced similar emotions in his life.

Cognitive empathy

This is empathy when we try to understand our opponent by analyzing his actions. This type of empathy is characterized by the ability to compare, analyze, and draw certain conclusions. The more responsible the approach itself, the higher the empathy. When a person truly seeks to understand another, he must discard all preconceptions.

Predicative empathy

A type of empathy that means the ability to predict the feelings and moods of your interlocutor. Empathy is based on the desire not only to understand, but to hear the true motives that prompted the opponent to act in a certain way. The stronger the desire to do something good for another person, the more tangible the result will be.

Shows of Empathy

How to recognize signs of empathy? By what parameters can one determine that a person is ready to be sensitive, perceptive and truly responsive? True empathy is not difficult to recognize. You just need to start being more attentive to those around you and follow the voice of your own heart. Let's take a closer look at the manifestations of empathy.

Willingness to help

Each of us may need support from time to time. There is nothing shameful or surprising about this. Circumstances are sometimes beyond a person’s capabilities, so if you find yourself in a difficult situation, it’s not surprising to get confused. Willingness to help is extremely required skill, which in no way can be called superfluous. A person who strives to be truly useful is not capable of causing pain to another. An individual with a broad soul actually discovers in himself the desire to give, to do good, to be as useful as possible. The development of empathy assumes that the individual is constantly looking for additional opportunities in order to be as useful as possible. more people. Some individuals are quite clearly aware that it gives them special joy to benefit others. Thus, faith in yourself and your own prospects is strengthened. The more we do for others, the more responsive we become, and we begin to realize the true value of our own lives.

Listening skills

At all times, this skill was worth its weight in gold and characterized a person from the best side. As a rule, this is expressed in the desire to listen to the interlocutor and give him useful advice. At the same time, all sorts of condemnations and manifestations of negativity fade into the background. Listening is an extremely useful skill that every civilized person can appreciate. When you are listened to carefully, you create the impression of your own need and importance. Empathy is born from the desire to understand and delve into certain life circumstances. When we share thoughts with each other that are of some importance, we receive a feeling of deep inner satisfaction. Empathy is impossible without careful listening. Only when people feel that their problems are not indifferent to others can they be happy and remain internally satisfied.

Active empathy

Empathy is characterized by such a manifestation as strong empathy. This is not just a caring attitude, but genuine participation in the life of a loved one. If an individual not only understands what another feels in a certain situation, but is imbued with all his soul, then this is genuine empathy. Such a person really has every opportunity to provide meaningful help and support. Empathy assumes that a person will be mature and self-sufficient enough to determine his true values. The ability to help is one of the most significant. If people learned to value care and patronage more, they would be able to achieve complete satisfaction in life.

Ability to reflect

Empathy forces a person to constantly analyze his own actions. An individual examines in detail all his actions that he has performed in the past or is about to perform in the future. Empathy promotes better disclosure of feelings and release of internal energy. In this case, it becomes easier for the individual to understand the people around him. Their thoughts, actions and desires do not remain something mysterious and unacceptable for him. The ability to reflect is a quite useful thing, allowing you to analyze current events. As a result, a person can draw certain conclusions and make decisions that have a beneficial effect on state of mind. Reflection allows you to track changes in your own mood and has a beneficial effect on your ability to understand other people.

Thus, empathy is an integral element that helps to establish understanding between people. Thanks to empathy, a person gets the opportunity to look at the situation from the inside and discover some significant details for himself. If you have any problem related to mutual understanding with other people, then you can seek help from the Irakli Pozharisky Psychology Center. Trying to solve all difficulties alone is not best option. Working with a specialist will help you understand the significant characteristics of empathy and outline constructive ways out of an unsatisfactory situation.

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