Empathic personality. What is empathy in psychology in simple words

home The inner universe of each person is unique. We come into this world with our own type of temperament and go through a unique life experience , which influences our habits, worldview and way of perceiving the world around us. Looking at the snowfall, one person will admiringly remark: “It’s snowing white!” Another will nervously say: “It’s disgusting in your face.” And despite this, we sometimes still manage to comprehend the inner world and emotional condition

another man. This phenomenon is called empathy or empathy.

Origins of Empathy Empathy is the word Greek origin

, it means conscious empathy for the emotional state of another person.

When analyzing what the word “empathy” means, many confuse it with compassion, although in fact this term means the ability to empathize with any emotions, not only negative, but also positive. Today, there are several interpretations of the term “empathy”.

In medicine, it has the role of understanding and demonstrating understanding of the emotional state of another person. Empathic listening comes to the fore here, with the goal of letting the patient speak out and encouraging him to openly express his feelings and sensations. In psychology, emotional empathy is considered the norm; there are even special methods for identifying people’s ability for this form of mental activity, which vary from an easy response to total immersion

into the feelings of the interlocutor. But it should not be confused with identification, during which a person not only understands the feelings of another, as happens with empathy, but in some way does not distinguish them from his own. IN fiction The term "empath" has taken on a new meaning that is more reminiscent of emotional telepathy and is considered psychic ability

. However, in reality, such experiments with empathy could not be repeated.

into the feelings of the interlocutor. But it should not be confused with identification, during which a person not only understands the feelings of another, as happens with empathy, but in some way does not distinguish them from his own. Types of empathy classical psychology

Emotional empathy is a form of mental activity based on the mechanisms of projection and imitation of the interlocutor’s reactions (motor, affective). And when we talk about empathy in everyday life, we mean precisely emotional empathy, in other words, the ability to project onto oneself the experiences of another person and reproduce these emotions on oneself.

Cognitive empathy is based on intellectual processes such as analogy and comparison. It takes place in scientific discussions and polemics.

Predictive empathy is the ability to predict another person's feelings in certain situations. And although hardly anyone uses this term in everyday life, in fact, most people can put themselves in the place of another and predict what feelings they will experience.

Psychologists also classify forms of empathy as empathy and sympathy into special categories. Empathy is experiencing the emotions of the interlocutor through identification with him. Sympathy, on the contrary, is the experience of one’s own emotions experienced about the feelings of the interlocutor.

Developing Empathy

Emotional empathy different people has its own special degrees of expression. The lowest level is characterized by self-focus and indifference to the thoughts and feelings of other people. Representatives of this species seemed to have no emotional empathy at all. They rarely understand those around them, feel discomfort in unfamiliar companies, and therefore try to live alone. Typically, people with low level emotional empathy has few friends, and those that exist are rather colleagues.

The second level of empathy is the most common. Its representatives are indifferent to the thoughts and feelings of others, but in rare cases they can show empathy. They are able to express emotions, but prefer to keep them under control. A characteristic manifestation of this level of development of empathy is that a person loves films and fiction books, but prefers action rather than a description of experiences.

The third level of empathy is high and at the same time rare. Its representatives understand and feel the emotions of others better than their own. These are devoted and generous friends, people who are not indifferent to the problems of others. They are contactable, responsive, sociable, sincere, trust feelings and intuition. The other side of the coin is that representatives of this level of emotional empathy wait for social approval of their actions and easily become unbalanced.

In addition to empathy levels, there is also a classification of people according to this criterion. They are categorized as “non-empaths,” “weak empaths,” “functional empaths,” and “professional empaths.” The first category is those who are unfamiliar with the feeling of empathy. The second category knows well about empathy, but experiences constant stress from experiencing the heaviness of the world. The third category easily adapts to emotions and does not let them pass through them. Professional empaths easily recognize emotions, even those that the interlocutor prefers to hide, but most importantly, they have the ability to manage other people's mental experiences. And this is a quite useful skill for psychologists and teachers. If you want to learn to understand other people, consistently developing empathy will help you gain this ability.

Diagnosis of empathy

In order to determine whether you are able to understand the emotional state of people around you, there are proven techniques. For example, empathy can be diagnosed using the emotional response scale developed by psychology professor Albert Mehrabian. This scientist proposed a simple and effective questionnaire that reveals the level of ability for emotional empathy for the feelings of the interlocutor and the degree of its correspondence to the reality of the subject.

The Empathy Diagnostic Test consists of 25 questions that measure one of five levels of empathy from very high to very low. And although it may seem to you that the highest level of empathy is also the best, in fact, hypertrophied sensitivity leads to emotional dependence, vulnerability and even psychosomatic illnesses. Of course, it is worth developing the ability to listen to another, paraphrase and reflect his emotions. But at the same time, it is necessary to choose effective behavioral strategies that will allow you to maintain a balance between a rational, sober mind and sensitive, responsive emotionality.

Empathy- a rare ability that consists in an unusually subtle comprehension of the feelings and emotions of another person, usually the interlocutor. Also, this concept includes many additional aspects: the ability to put oneself in someone else’s place, the tendency to empathize, and the ability to feel someone else’s mood.

Perhaps, for the most part, this is a personal trait of human character rather than a psychological characteristic.

Psychological works and treatises on this topic have been written for decades. Almost all eminent psychologists and psychotherapists took part in the development of this issue, including Sigmund Freud, known to everyone. He argued that having empathy includes not only a subjective understanding of someone else's world, but also the ability to feel all emotions (both positive and negative) from the point of view of another person.

Level of empathy.

Empathic abilities are rarely innate. Most often, individuals acquire them with ever-increasing experience. Most often, empathy evokes several responses at once. A person who has this gift can simultaneously sympathize, empathize and experience irresistible sympathy for the individual with whom he now has an emotional connection.

Levels of empathy– a rather relative concept. However, the Internet is replete with tests offering to find out the presence of this characteristic online. Most often, website creators offer to determine what level of emotional intelligence you are at and divide empaths into 5 groups:

• the first group does not recognize themselves as empaths. They feel emotions and experiences, but identify themselves with them, and not some other person;
• the second group is aware of what they are capable of, but does not fully understand their capabilities and the nature of this skill;
• the third group quite clearly uses their abilities, tuning in to any person whose inner world is of interest.
• the fourth group knows how to control all possible emotions and gradually learns to control their “victims” in this way;
• and the fifth group mastered empathic abilities to the fullest, learning not only to share their feelings with the emotions of other people, but also gaining control over other individuals.

At the moment, empathy is divided into several types:

1. Emotional (it is based on imitation of the motor reactions of another person).
2. Cognitive (based on intellectual processes).
3. Predicative (manifests itself as the ability to predict the reactions of another).

More-less empathy is subject to each of us, to say the least: necessary. It is needed by people whose professions are directly related to communication: psychologists, executives, managers and many others.

Developing empathy.

Quite a few people are willing to give a lot in order to develop empathic abilities. Experts say that this is quite possible and recommend a number of game exercises:

1. Active listening. Learn (or teach) to listen to your interlocutor and ask questions that would help him more fully reveal the topic being put forward. Also, a useful skill will be the ability to share your impressions of what you heard (for example: “It was very painful for me to hear your story”).
2. Exercise "Shelter". To perform it, you need to sit in a chair, relax as much as possible (close your eyes and take a comfortable position) and imagine your ideal refuge. Its forms can vary dramatically. For some, this is the house in which he was born and raised, and for others, a hut in the forest where no one will find him. Such fantasies will significantly relieve emotional stress and allow you to “shed” excess burden.
3. Pronunciation. The ability to praise others is an important component of all trainings. You need to start with at least a few flattering compliments a day, because soon enough it will become a habit, and you will begin to find real reasons to be proud of your surroundings.
4. Analysis of your behavior. Some consider this a meaningless reflection, while others consider it a productive analysis of completed actions. To do this, you can keep a diary or simply set aside a few minutes every day for an honest conversation with yourself.

It is worth considering that the older a person is, the more difficult it is for him to develop empathy, since the lived experience does not always allow one to objectively evaluate others.

Also, remember that the acquired ability to empathize can easily be destroyed by fear alone. It is reliably known that empaths They try to avoid conflict situations, protecting themselves and others from quarrels and disputes. However, if this fails, sensitive people begin to suffer from panic attacks and look for ways to correct their thinking, which fundamentally destroys all their abilities.

It is very important for a person to become happy, to live surrounded by loving and understanding people. In order to feel the harmony and happiness of life, you need to be able to sympathize and understand other people. The amazing feeling that this opportunity gives is called empathy.

Explaining what empathy is, this gift can be defined using knowledge of the Greek language. In Greek, “empathy” means “compassion, empathy.” Simply put, an empath person subtly perceives the feelings and emotions of others, he knows how to deeply sympathize with people. At the same time, the empath does not lose control over his own feelings.

Empathy - the ability to feel others

Empathy is a unique ability; it is not given to every person. This term was first introduced into scientific use by the famous psychotherapist Edward Titchner. Scientists have developed a scale for determining the level of empathy in people and the principles of its classification. His developments are also used in modern psychology.

According to psychologists, now an urgent problem modern society there becomes a strong lack of ability to empathize. A leading expert in the field of psychology, Douglas Labier, even coined the definition of EDS (empathy deficit syndrome).

This magical ability has many classifications and types. Empathy can exist in its pure (classical) form, or it can include a variety of additional aspects.

Emotions of strangers as if they were your own

Empathy is a person’s ability to subtly perceive the misfortunes of others. She never found a rational explanation. Empathic perception does not depend on a person’s intellectual level or education. Most scientists are inclined to believe that empathy is an ability transmitted at the genetic level.

This skill is an important addition to professional activity many specialists:

• psychoanalysts gain a complete understanding of the patient’s mental and emotional state;
• For psychologists, empathy serves as an important lever for understanding the interlocutor and accurately identifying problematic conditions;
• for criminologists, such a gift helps to piece together the slightest nuances about the thoughts and feelings of the victim/criminal;
• doctors can assess how ready the patient is for medical procedures and how effectively the patient responds to treatment;

Empathic ability is considered not just important, but also a necessary quality for people. This is especially true for those whose work activity directly related to communication: teachers, educators, managers, agents, executives, sellers, cosmetologists, stylists.

How empathy begins

You can notice that a person subtly perceives the feelings of others already in early childhood. Little empaths:

1. They react too actively to any manifestation of parental emotions. The raised timbre of the voice responds to quarrels with crying.
2. Somatic problems also appear: the baby’s face turns red, the heart begins to beat more often, and increased sweating occurs.

Scientists note that empathic children are more likely to appear in families where parents show great attention to the feelings of other people. Innate empathy can fade over time or become stronger and more pronounced. A warm, trusting environment in the family, competent upbringing based on caring for others helps to strengthen the ability to feel.

What does the ability to empathize depend on?

Empathy in psychology is a complex science based on a primary sincere disposition towards the interlocutor, the desire to understand him and listen to him. The empathic gift is also influenced by a number of others. personal qualities(character, level of education, intelligence):

1. Qualities such as pedantry, severity, and dryness interfere with the full manifestation of empathic abilities.
2. If a person has egocentrism (focusing on one’s own person), empathy is unfamiliar to him.
3. An insufficiently high level of intelligence prevents an empath from adequately assessing the situation. Such a person will incorrectly substantiate the feelings of the interlocutor.

Individuals with a high threshold of intellectual and spiritual development are more likely to show true, deep empathy. Such people know how to come into close contact with the emotions of others, passing them through themselves. They are intuitively aware of the thoughts that torment their interlocutors and adequately assess the emotional states of their opponents.

In addition to the ability to empathize and subtly feel the emotions of others, empaths can also vividly perceive exciting situations from books, films, and theater productions.

Is it good to be an empath?

Having learned what empathy is, many people strive to develop such abilities. But don’t rush headlong into the pool. Empathy is an important skill, but it needs to be used wisely. Many owners of the gift suffer from it. After all, it is extremely important for empaths to have a strong will and a strong, mature character. Otherwise, coping with the influx of other people's emotions becomes an impossible task.

After all, in addition to the invaluable advantages:

• the ability to help family and friends;
• resolution of any conflict situations;
• the inability to be deceived and deceived;
• excellent prospects for professionalism.

Empathy also has negative sides, the other side of the coin. The disadvantages of this ability include:

• frequent feeling of emptiness;
• risk of developing mental disorders;
• rapid emotional “burnout”;
• lack of reciprocity, which adds unnecessary worries;
• a heightened perception of moral pain that empaths cannot resist.

Features of the manifestation of empathic inclinations vary from person to person. They depend on the level and type of gift to which a particular person is inclined.

Types of empathic abilities

Among specialists, there is a developed classification that defines the categories, forms and degrees of empathic abilities. The gradation was developed by Carl Ransom Rogers (American educator and psychologist).

Categories of empathy

According to psychological classification, the empathic gift is divided into three types:

Emotional. An emotionally empathetic person is a person who perceives other people's experiences very closely. They literally pass them through themselves, accepting the pain of their interlocutor as their own. At any moment they respond to the misfortune of strangers and always come to the rescue.

Emotional empathy is the most common, and it is on this that friendly and understanding relationships are built.

Cognitive. A gift of this level is based on the ability to analyze the information received. The first thing cognitive empaths do is to comparative characteristics, analyzing your own thoughts and those of your opponents.

Such people not only subtly perceive and feel the emotions of their interlocutors, but also use their own intelligence to thoroughly analyze events. Their important task– realize and fully understand. This type of empathy is observed in scientific debates and discussions.

Predicative. “Predicate” means “a certain statement about a certain subject.” This level of empathic abilities is based on the ability to predict the behavior and sensations of opponents on an intuitive level. Such manifestations are observed more clearly under any conflict situations and quarrels. A predicative empath knows how to put himself in the place of his interlocutor and understand his experiences “from the inside,” not by contemplating, but by penetrating deep.

All categories of empathic abilities are observed in every person, to one degree or another. The level of their development depends on the character of the individual, temperamental characteristics and the development of brain activity.

Forms of empathic abilities

Among empaths, psychologists also distinguish two individual species empathic state:

1. Sympathy. An ability that is formed by the emergence of a personal sensory relationship to an event occurring with an opponent.
2. Empathy. Empathic empathy is based on the emergence of persistent emotions in the empath, the same as those experienced by the interlocutor.

How do they manifest themselves? different shapes empathy can be understood by observing the empath's reaction. For example, if during a conversation the opponent begins to worry to the point of tears, provoking reciprocal tears in an empathic person - this is the ability to empathize.

With sympathy, an empathic person begins to express his own sound emotions similar to those experienced by the interlocutor.

Levels of empathy development

Among psychologists, there are certain tests that help identify the degree of development of empathic abilities. There are four of these levels:

High (affective). This level is characterized by an increased ability to fully penetrate and feel the feelings of others. The empath “gets used to” the problems of his opponent to such an extent that he ceases to distinguish his own misfortunes from those of others.

If the empathic person is not strong enough, harsh character, affective empathy can provoke problems in him mentally and personally.

Such individuals often suffer from overly developed impressionability and vulnerability. They have an ultra-fine mental organization. If empaths are able to cope with the flow of other people's troubles, they achieve high skill in the professional sphere.

Elevated. Empaths at this level of development perceive other people's pain and emotions without much harm to themselves. They show sincere interest in the problems of the interlocutor, but maintain a certain delicate distance. Such individuals are communicative, social, they easily find mutual language with any person.

Normal. The most common level of empathic abilities. It shows a good, innate gift for understanding problems strangers. Such a person is not indifferent to the troubles of others and is responsive to help. Increased participation in troubles and problems on the part of the empath falls on close and dear people rather than on strangers.

Short. There are also people who have a complete lack of empathy. These individuals are also called “anti-empaths.” They are not flexible thinkers and are unable to look at a problem from the outside. Nothing will force them to accept the opponent’s position if it differs from their own.

Anti-empaths are entirely focused on their personal lives and problems; they experience some discomfort among strangers. These are bright, egocentric introverts with a narrow circle of friends and pronounced problems in the ability to communicate with others.

How to become an empath

Is it possible to develop innate empathic abilities? According to psychologists, empathy can be trained and improved (provided you have such a gift). Various trainings and specially designed exercises to develop mindfulness will help with this..

Especially good helpers in the training of empathic abilities, artistic sketches become. These include:

• training to remember faces;
• an exercise on the ability to look at yourself from the outside;
• reincarnation into other people, animals, birds, insects.

The development of empathy is facilitated by associative games, dancing, watching good exciting films, listening to music. Develop your own emotionality, and empathy will come with it. But before you become an empath, determine for yourself whether you really need such an ability and whether you can manage it.

" article Empathy - what is it? Where we will consider what kind of beast this is - empathy. And what do they eat it with? And also how empathy relates to apathy, telepathy, psychopathy, sympathy, and so on.

Empathy - what is it? Everything is very simple. Empathy is comprehension of the emotional state, penetration, feeling into the experiences of another person. The ability of an individual to parallel experience those emotions that arise in another individual during communication with him. Understanding another person by emotionally empathizing with his experiences.

The term “empathy” was created to denote special sensitivity, the ability of an individual to imagine himself in the place of another person, to feel his emotional state, in the everyday sense - sympathy. In a broader meaning - an aesthetic experience, a response from the soul, sincerity of feeling.

In other words, empathy is the “ability to empathize,” consciously empathizing with the current emotional state of another person, without losing the sense of the external origin of this experience. Accordingly, an empath is a person with a developed ability to empathize.

To complete the picture, let's define:

• there is emotional empathy - based on imitation of the external manifestations of another person’s emotions;
• There is conscious empathy, when a person calculates the feelings of another person based on an analysis of the situation;
• The third type of empathy is predictive empathy, which manifests itself as the ability to predict the emotional reaction of another person based on experience.

Naturally, in all cases it is assumed that the empath not only calculated the person’s emotional state in one way or another as described above, but was also able to feel it himself (without losing his own personal integrity). Because predicting the joy of another is one thing. But to understand exactly how and how happy another person is from your own experience is another (and it is already quite close to empathy).

As they say:

To have empathy means to perceive the subjective world of another person as if the perceiver were that other person.

In this regard, two main forms of empathy can be distinguished:

• empathy - experiencing the same emotional states that another experiences, through identification with him;
• sympathy is the experience of one’s own emotional states in connection with the feelings of another.

Accordingly, empathy can be developed through three areas:

1. Observe the emotions of other people and their manifestations (you can read more about this in the article “Emotional Tone Scale”)
2. Learn to analyze the situation and the emotions manifested in certain cases
3. Train to predict what type of feelings will manifest themselves in certain cases.

Naturally, without the main component of empathy—feeling for yourself—these three elements by themselves will not train empathy. Accordingly, in addition to analysis and observation, it is necessary to independently go through all the person’s emotions. To know what to relate to what, so to speak. This is why the ability for empathy increases with age: firstly, factual and analytical material accumulates, and secondly, the emotional experience of the empath itself grows.

It is believed that empathy is helped not only by personal emotional experience and analysis, but also by a certain ability to feel another person in real time, even if this person’s feelings were not available to the empath. It is quite possible that this also happens. However, we have no doubt: without the training described above, this ability will not develop.

By the way, we promised to help understand how empathy differs from sympathy, telepathy, and so on. We help:

What are the differences between empathy and telepathy?..

All differences between these words concern simple translation words So, the common root for all these words is the root pathos, which means “feeling” in ancient Greek. Well, then the shades and relationships of the root are distinguished by prefixes.

So, empathy= en + pathos = in-feeling (the analogue in Russian is clumsy, because in this sense this word is used only in specific books).

Sympathy= syn + pathos = sympathy. So empathy is a direct analogy to sympathy.

Accordingly, it is now very simple to distinguish sympathy from empathy: sympathy is a joint feeling, and empathy is feeling into the state of another person. As you can see, sympathy is just mutual empathy. True, in our language the word “sympathy” refers only to positive emotions. However, if you look at the basics, sympathy is two-way empathy.

Telepathy= tele + pathos, distance + feeling = feeling at a distance. By the way, we have already encountered the “tele” part in the article “Telegony. The other side that was hidden.” Well, we haven’t encountered telepathy yet. But, quite possibly, we will collide soon.

The word “psychopathy” is interesting from this point of view. So, if we consider its origin, then psychopathy= soul + feeling, soul feeling or soul feeling. How did this word acquire a negative connotation? Everything is very simple: psychologists and psychiatrists are to blame for everything, who officially and for the most part deny the existence of the soul. So it came to pass that the feeling of the soul, the spiritual feeling, is something non-existent. And sometimes harmful. Well, it’s not far from harm to psychopaths.

And finally apathy= a + pathos = lack of feeling. Which is quite logical, because when a person is in apathy, he does not experience any special feelings.

So empathy is a very useful quality that can greatly help in life.

Term "empathy" derived from Greek word“empathy” means the ability to recognize and understand the internal experiences of another person.

If a person can determine the emotional state of other people, he is called empath.

For the first time, the definition of empathy in psychology was given by Sigmund Freud, speaking about the need for any psychoanalyst to be able to put himself in the place of his client.

There is not only emotional, but also aesthetic empathy, that is, the ability to deeply feel an artistic image.

This concept applies to almost all emotional manifestations of the individual: both positive and negative. If compassion implies the ability to sympathize in a difficult situation, then empathy also covers other feelings - anger, fear, joy, etc.

The depth of manifestation also varies: some people respond to emotions superficially, while others are completely immersed in the world of other people’s experiences. There are no substantiated explanations yet. Neuroscientists believe that this phenomenon occurs due to the work of so-called mirror neurons.

Without the ability to empathize, a person cannot become a good psychoanalyst or psychologist. This quality contributes to the development of communication skills and allows you to create productive working relationships with the patient that will contribute to solving a person’s personal problems. Many people far from science associate empathy with the presence of superpowers. However, this is not so: this property is quite explainable with scientific point vision and has nothing to do with extrasensory perception.

It's important to note that empathy occurs without the participation of the intellect. Many researchers believe that this is an innate personality quality, determined genetically.

In the process of personality development, the ability for deep empathy can either increase or, on the contrary, weaken. Development depends on wealth inner world the individual, the subtlety of his perception, the ability to listen to the interlocutor and a number of other factors. With the help of various trainings, empathic capabilities can be developed (only if they are inherent in the individual from the very beginning). Such trainings are very useful for people who, due to their line of work, have to communicate a lot and want to develop their communication skills.

Classification

Currently, psychology distinguishes several main types of empathy:

• emotional, based on imitation of the behavioral reactions of other people;
• cognitive, which is based on thinking processes;
• predicative, manifested in the ability to predict the behavior and emotional reactions of others.

Probably, the ability for such perception is inherent in almost every person from the beginning. And this property needs to be developed in oneself in order to learn more effective communication. This is especially important for people who, by profession, often engage in communication, for example, psychologists, managers and teachers.

Levels of empathy

There is a classification of empaths based on the depth of awareness of the feelings and emotions of the people around them. Before moving on to classification, it is worth saying a few words about people who are completely devoid of the ability to empathize. As a rule, these people are inaccessible not only to the feelings of others, but also to their own emotions.

Non-empaths can determine how another person feels only by indirect manifestations, using intelligence and analytical skills. For such individuals, emotions are a somewhat frightening, uncontrollable factor that only makes life more difficult. Often, a complete lack of empathic perception is demonstrated by people with schizoid accentuation of character, who are more prone to abstract logical constructions than to the world of feelings and emotional experiences.

Sociopaths are completely deprived of this ability: it is precisely because of the lack of the ability to empathize with others that they often commit illegal acts, not realizing that this can bring pain to others.

Empaths are able to identify own feelings and understand what others are experiencing. At the same time, empathy for empaths is a natural process that does not require intellectual effort or awareness.

1. Level 1 empaths are able to identify what they themselves are feeling. At the same time, only fairly simple shades of feelings are available to them. They can perceive the emotions of others and do not always know how to differentiate other people’s emotions from their own.
2. Level 2 Empaths
   are well aware of what emotional experiences are. They are able to intentionally read other people's experiences by looking into a person's eyes or taking a closer look at his motor skills.
3. Level 3 Empaths, as a rule, are aware of their own capabilities. They can clearly differentiate their own feelings from those of others, and they can determine the state of another without direct contact, for example, during a telephone conversation or even correspondence.
4. Level 4 empaths the entire range of other people's emotional manifestations is available. They can be aware of others' feelings without the need for direct contact. We can say that such people have increased intuition, which is often confused with extrasensory abilities. At the same time, level 4 empaths are able to understand not only emotions, but also what caused them.

   In addition, such people manage to easily understand the emotions of several individuals with whom they are in direct contact. Level 4 empaths make excellent psychologists, psychiatrists, teachers, doctors, and even investigators. It is interesting that such individuals can even understand the emotional state of animals.

5. Level 5 empaths are able to use their abilities to manipulate the emotions of others.

Diagnostics

To understand whether a person is an empath, it is necessary to determine the presence or absence of empathic character traits.

Developing Empathy

Special testing is carried out to determine whether a person is able to understand the feelings of others. For diagnosis, psychologist A. Mehrabyan developed a special emotional response scale. Typically, this test is used for positions that require the ability to empathize with others and understand their emotional state.

1. Many people want to develop this ability. Psychologists say that this can be done, but you will have to put in a lot of effort and regularly perform simple exercises: Active listening
2. . Try to learn to listen and ask questions that reveal as much as possible the topic being discussed and the person's personality. The ability to share your own emotional reactions to what you hear (“When you told me this, it was very painful and unpleasant for me”) helps to develop empathy.”"Refuge" To perform this exercise, you need to take a comfortable position. Try to imagine your own personal refuge. This could be yours own house
3. or an imaginary hut in the forest, a house in a clearing or a cave in a rock. Visualize your shelter in every detail. This place should evoke a feeling of peace and tranquility. Whenever you feel the need to get rid of anxiety, imagine your refuge: you will immediately experience relaxation and remove excess emotional “load”, which will allow you to better understand your interlocutors. Learn to give compliments. It's about
4. not about flattery: just don’t be afraid to tell others that you like their hairstyle, that you are amazed by their abilities and skills in any field of activity, etc. Over time, this will become a habit, and you will become a much more pleasant interlocutor. Unfortunately, negative feedback is more common in our culture: people easily criticize each other, but have difficulty giving compliments and praise. Carefully analyze your own behavior.

Don’t think that this is meaningless soul-searching: by analyzing your actions, you will be able to better understand those around you.

It has been proven that the higher the ability in question, the more actively a person tries to avoid disputes and conflicts. If this fails, the empath gradually puts an invisible barrier between himself and other people, which helps him to remain in a calm state, while simultaneously destroying unique ability to feel into the emotional world of others.

Developing empathy in children

Children, as a rule, have extremely pronounced empathy. This helps them explore the world and their own personality, build emotional contacts with others.

A child’s empathy depends on how much the ability to empathize is developed in his loved ones. Empathy develops well in children whose parents do not have problems with their own emotions and give the child love and care. In such a family, children develop abilities for altruism: understanding the feelings of others, the child easily comes to the aid of others. Fostering empathy is the task of the child’s parents.

You should not try to forcefully make your child an empath. At an early age, the baby simply will not understand the angry parental phrase: “Look, you brought your sister to tears!” Of course, the child will quickly realize what his parents want from him and will be able to feign remorse for his actions.

Such behavior cannot be called genuine empathy. Parents should show by example what empathy is and why it is necessary. In addition, some children are not at all predisposed to such an ability: in this case, simultaneously with the emotional sphere, one should work on the ability to understand other people's experiences on an intellectual level.

Practical use

The practical application of empathy is possible in the following areas:

1. Personnel management. Thanks to the ability in question, you can understand how employees feel about their work. Empathy is very important for people who are involved in sales: they can understand the buyer's emotions and develop more effective product promotion strategies.
2. Psychosomatics- an area that lies at the intersection of psychology and medicine and studies the connection between the psyche and the body (soma). Within the framework of psychosomatics, conflicts leading to the development of various diseases, types of characters and personalities that act as a predisposition to certain diseases, etc.

   It is believed that the psychological factor plays a significant role in the development of all diseases with the exception of injuries. Even infectious diseases, one way or another, are connected with the psyche, because the emotional background affects the immune system. If the doctor is an empath, he will be able to quickly determine what factors caused the disease and build productive communication with the patient, which will make a huge contribution to healing.

3. Working with motivation and fulfillment of desires. IN modern world Trainings aimed at identifying one’s own goals and intentions are in demand. An empath is able to sense what another person really wants, which makes him an extremely effective coach.
4. Pedagogy. An empathic teacher is able to find individual approach to each student and build psychological contact even with the most difficult students. Typically, such teachers are not only able to convey material of any complexity, but also leave an indelible mark on the souls of their students.

Empathy - This is a very valuable skill, and with a little effort, anyone can develop it. You shouldn’t give up on this: it’s much easier for an empath everyday communication with others and he is able to achieve great success in life using his unique abilities.

Video on the topic: Empathy. Someone else's pain | Great Leap