NAME: NATASHA KHAN

CLASS: BS PSYCHOLOGY

SECTION: (A)

ROLL NO: FA20-BPY 072

SUBMITTED TO: MAM JANNAT MEHBOOB

Explain the concept of sympathy and empathy

Sympathy

Definition:

Sympathy is the perception of, understanding of, and reaction to the distress or need of another life
form.

 The act or state of feeling sorrow or compassion for another.

 Agreement in feelings or emotions between people or on the part of one person toward
another, especially as based on similar tastes, shared understanding etc.
 Sympathy is
 Feelings or impulses of compassion
 Feelings of favor, support, or loyalty
 Favor or approval
 Agreement, consonance, or accord.

Examples:

 “We are so sorry for your loss.”

 “I'm going to miss her, too.”
 “I hope you feel surrounded by much love.”

Empathy

Definition:

The ability to sense other people's emotions, coupled with the ability to imagine what someone else
might be thinking or feeling.

 It helps us understand how others are feeling so we can respond appropriately to the
situation.
 It is typically associated with social behavior and there is lots of research showing that greater
empathy leads to more helping behavior.

Examples:

 Empathy is feeling the same amount of excitement as a friend, when they tell you they're
getting married.
 You likely smile and take the trouble to remember people's names: that's empathy in action.
Giving people your full attention in meetings, being curious about their lives and interests, and
offering constructive feedback are all empathic behaviors, too.
 Difference between sympathy and empathy
Sympathy
Sympathy instead involves understanding
someone else's emotions but from your own
perspective.
Having thoughts about what someone feels
When in conversation, giving unasked advice
Passing judgment
Only noticing the surface level issue
Understanding only from your perspective
Ignoring or suppressing your own emotions.
Unlike empathy, practicing sympathy doesn’t
mean you feel what someone else feels.
Instead, you feel pity or sorry for someone
else’s feelings.
You feel bad for someone, but you don’t
understand how they feel.
Sympathy doesn’t help you build deep
connections with other people. This is because
sympathy only offers surface-level
understanding. It doesn’t allow you to see from
someone else’s perspective.
Empathy
Empathy involves feeling what someone else feels,
while sympathy doesn't.
Feeling what someone else feels
Actively listening to what they have to say
Not judging
Being aware of nuances and non-verbal cues
Discovering their perspective
Acknowledging everyone's feelings.
Empathy is the ability to understand and share a
person’s feelings. If you’re an empathetic person,
you can listen to what someone else has to say
without judgment.
Empathy is about connecting with the other
person instead of trying to find an appropriate
response.
On the other hand, empathy lets you walk in
someone else’s shoes. As a result, you can better
provide what they really need.
Empathy was correlated with self-esteem, interpersonal relationships, and self-efficacy. The multiple
regression analysis revealed that 45.9% of the variance in empathy is attributable to gender, major
satisfaction, self-esteem, self-efficacy, and interpersonal relationships. The most important factor
interpersonal relationship explained.

The ability to recognize emotions in oneself and others via different communicative cues such as facial
expressions, speech, or behavior; (2) a cognitive component, also referred to as perspective taking or
theory of mind, describing the competency to take over the perspective of another person, though
maintaining the essential distinction between self and other; and (3) an affective component, that is,
sharing of emotional states with others or the ability to experience similar emotions as others.

When someone was empathetic with me

My friend run a small hardware store. One morning, a man comes in and is irate with your employee
because the screws she recommended do not fit his project. My friend help him get what he needs
and be on his way. When he looks at me as I am employee here, his heart sinks. I am is trying not to
cry. My friend empathetic response is, "I'm so sorry that happened. Being yelled at is awful. Take
some time if you need it. In this my friend showed empathy for me."

Co-worker has a mountain of work to do and will need to come in over the weekend to finish. You
don't do the same kind of work, and there's no way for you to offer practical help. Still, owner knows
what it's like to lose a weekend to work, and owner feel really bad for his colleague. On Saturday,
owner show empathy by stopping by the office with some coffee and donuts for him, along with a few
encouraging words.

When I was empathetic with

someone

Imagine I am a student and my friend in my class has just failed a major test or exam. My friend is
distraught because she studied really hard and still failed. Even though you got a good grade on this
test, I remember what it is like to fail. I don't try to fix things for my friend. Instead, I make an
empathetic statement like, "I'm so, so sorry about your grade. I know how hard you studied and how
disappointed you must feel."

A friend going through a difficult break-up is an opportunity to show empathy in your social life.
Imagine you didn't like her friend, and you haven't approved of this relationship. She comes to you
distraught that it is over. Part of being empathetic is reserving judgement, so you set aside what you
think should happen and focus on her feelings instead. You give her a hug and listen attentively while
she talks.

Factors of empathy:-

According to most models empathy consists of at least three core components:

(1) The ability to recognize emotions in oneself and others via different communicative cues such as
facial expressions, speech, or behavior

(2) A cognitive component, also referred to as perspective taking or theory of mind, describing the
competency to take over the perspective of another person, though maintaining the essential
distinction between self and other

(3) An affective component, that is, sharing of emotional states with others or the ability to
experience similar emotions as others.

The factor that effects empathy are following :

• Age

• Gender

• Literacy

• Mind level ( open minded and conserve minded )

• Birth order

Emotion Contagion: Before empathy can take place, you need to sense that an emotion is occurring –
or that an emotion is expected of you. There is currently great debate about how emotion contagion
occurs, and how we realize that emotions are required from us, but it is agreed that the process of
empathy is dependent upon our capacity to feel and share emotions. Empathy is first and foremost an
emotional skill.

Empathic Accuracy: This is your ability to accurately identify and understand emotional states and
intentions in yourself and others.

Emotion Regulation: In order to be an effective empath, you’ve got to develop the ability to
understand, regulate, and work with your own emotions; you’ve got to be self-aware. When you can
clearly identify and regulate your own emotions, you’ll tend to be able to function skillfully in the
presence of strong emotions (your own and others’), rather than being overtaken or knocked out of
commission by them.

Perspective Taking: This skill helps you imaginatively put yourself in the place of others, see situations
through their eyes, and accurately sense what they might be feeling – so that you can understand
what others might want or need.
Concern for Others: Empathy helps you connect with others, but the quality of your response depends
upon your ability to care about others as well. When you feel emotions with others, accurately
identify those emotions, regulate them in yourself, and take the perspective of others – your sensitive
concern will help you engage with them in a way that displays your care and compassion.

Perceptive Engagement: This skill allows you to make perceptive decisions based upon your empathy
and to respond or act (if necessary) in a way that works for others. Perceptive engagement can be
considered the pinnacle of empathic skill, because it combines your capacity to sense and accurately
identify the emotions of others, regulate your own emotions, take the perspective of others, focus on
them with care and concern, and then do something skillful based upon your perceptions. Notably, in
perceptive engagement, you’ll often do something for another that would not work for you at all –
and might not even be in your best interests. Perceptive engagement is about the other person’s
needs.

Factors of sympathy

Individual moods

Previous experiences

Social connections

Novelty

Salience

Spatial proximity also influence the experience of sympathy. Individuals experiencing positive mood
states and people who have similar life experiences are more likely to produce sympathy.