03/29/2024
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by Danna Martínez

Getting to understand all aspects of a person is practically impossible, not only because a person’s mind is constantly changing, but also because of the differences between ideologies, perceptions, and culture, among others. What is possible is to meet, learn and empathize with other people.

The word empathy is of Greek origin, “empátheia.” It is known as the ability to detect and understand other people’s realities. In other words, to see things from an alternate point of view and imagine yourself in that place. Essentially, it’s about putting yourself in someone else’s position and feeling what they must be feeling.

Empathy is the ability to put yourself in someone else’s shoes and understand their feelings. Empathy allows you to create a connection with others, understanding the inner world of other people. Empathy deduces understanding the other, improves coexistence, and strengthens ties in different social relationships.

According to the Heart Manity blog, “The three types of empathy that psychologists have defined are: Cognitive, Emotional, and Compassionate.”

  • Cognitive: This is about understanding the other person’s emotions. It is defined by knowing and comprehending without getting affected. For example, understanding sadness is not the same thing as feeling sad.
  • Emotional: This type involves directly feeling the emotions that another person is feeling. A person with the capacity to take on the emotional and mental state of another.
  • Compassionate: This one is about regulation, using emotional intelligence, responding to the other person’s situation, understanding their position, and taking action to help.

Having empathy contributes to improving social relationships. Among these benefits is good communication; it is essential to convey ideas powerfully and assertively to make sense to others and understand others when they are communicating with us.

Empathic people connect quickly with others. Provoking a positive effect on others, being empathic increases self-esteem.

The level of empathy of each person is not always the same, and this is due to different factors. Being empathetic or not depends on the context in which the person has developed since it has generated an influence by it. Besides, the formation of mental schemes in our consciousness also plays an important role when creating this faculty; In general, the level of empathy varies throughout life due to the interaction of different factors.

Each person’s mind forms different knowledge and schemes about the world; therefore, all people have different perspectives, ideas, and conceptions. In many cases, not accepting differences or believing that the existence of differences is a bad thing can cause conflicts. Through empathy, people can understand other people’s perspectives and know-how they think and feel. Also, empathy allows you to understand people’s intentions and anticipate their reactions or behaviors.

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