Sympathy, Empathy and Compassion: What’s the Difference? - Careerpreneur Kirit
In our daily interactions with others, we often use terms like empathy, sympathy, and compassion interchangeably. However, despite their similarities, these words each have unique definitions and connotations that are important to understand.
Definition
Sympathy
Empathy
Compassion
Sympathy involves an understanding of and identification with another person’s situation, emotions, or problems, and is different from empathy, which involves the ability to experience another person’s emotions as if they were one’s own. Sympathy can be expressed through words, gestures, or actions, and is often seen as a basic aspect of human kindness and compassion.
Empathy is the ability to understand and share the feelings of another person. It is a complex emotional response that involves recognizing and understanding another person’s emotions, as well as imagining what they might be feeling.
Compassion is a feeling of deep sympathy and concern for the suffering of others, accompanied by a strong desire to help. It is an emotion that arises from the recognition of another person’s pain, suffering, or distress, and is characterized by feelings of kindness, empathy, and a willingness to offer assistance. Compassion goes beyond empathy and sympathy, as it involves taking active steps to alleviate the suffering of others.
It simply means,
At the bottom left, we have pity. When we experience pity, we have little willingness to act and little understanding of another’s experience.
We simply feel sorry for them. Moving up the chart to the right, we experience sympathy.
There is a small increase in our willingness to help and our understanding of the other. We feel for the other person.
Moving from one to another, we come to empathy. With empathy, we have a close, visceral understanding of the other person’s experience. We feel with the person. We literally take on the emotions of the other person and make those feelings our own.
Though a noble thing to do, it does not necessarily help the other person, except for possibly making them feel less lonely in their experience.
At the last, we have a good understanding of what the other person is experiencing and a willingness to act. Our understanding of the other person’s experience is greater than with empathy because we pull on our emotional awareness as well as rational understanding.
Compassion occurs when we take a step away from empathy and ask ourselves what we can do to support the person who is suffering. In this way, compassion is an intention versus an emotion.
Empathy, Sympathy, and Compassion: Distinguishing the Differences
- Empathy refers to the ability to understand and share the feelings of another person. It is the capacity to put oneself in someone else’s shoes, to imagine what they might be feeling, and to experience the world from their perspective. Empathy enables us to connect with others on an emotional level and to feel compassion for their struggles and hardships.
- Sympathy, on the other hand, is a feeling of pity or compassion for someone else’s misfortune or suffering. Unlike empathy, sympathy does not require that we understand or experience another person’s emotions directly. Instead, sympathy involves feeling sorry for someone else’s situation and expressing a desire to help or comfort them.
- Compassion combines elements of both empathy and sympathy, as it involves not only understanding and feeling for another person’s suffering, but also taking active steps to alleviate it. Compassion is a feeling of deep concern for the suffering of others, accompanied by a strong desire to help. It involves offering support, comfort, and resources, as well as working to address the root causes of the suffering.
Call to action : Don't be trapped into
- Avoiding the Empathy Trap — and Leading with Compassion
- Take a mental and emotional step away.
- Remember the power of non-action.
- Coach the person so they can find their own solution.
- Practice self-care.
In conclusion, empathy, sympathy, and compassion are all important aspects of human interaction and are essential for building strong relationships, resolving conflicts, and promoting understanding and compassion between individuals and communities. By understanding the differences between these concepts, we can cultivate a greater capacity for empathy, sympathy, and compassion in our own lives, and make a positive impact on the world around us.
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