Sympathy Vs Empathy Definition

It is often misconstrued with empathy which refers to an individual s ability to understand what another person is going through by perceiving himself in the same situation.

Sympathy vs empathy definition. Understanding what others are feeling because you have experienced it yourself or can put yourself in their shoes. An animal reacting to his reaction would come under this definition. Both sympathy and empathy have roots in the greek term páthos meaning suffering feeling what is sympathy. Empathy can be for good and bad both experiences.

Sympathy sympathy and empathy often lead to each other but not always. Are you confused about the usage of the words empathy and sympathy. By empathy one organism is aware at once that another organism is aware of an object. Sympathy is the term which refers towards possessing feelings of care and support whenever others are in pain or suffering.

Ensure you understand the similarities and differences between empathy and sympathy with help from this online quiz and printable worksheet. Acknowledging another person s emotional hardships and providing comfort and assurance. Empathy as the ability to actually feel what another person is feeling literally walk a mile in their shoes goes beyond sympathy a simple expression of concern for another person s misfortune. Sympathy is the older of the two terms.

You re able to put yourself in their shoes which offers you a deeper understanding of what they re going through. Taken to extremes deep or extended feelings of empathy can actually be harmful to one s emotional health. Sympathy definition origin and examples. Empathy is the term that depicts the understanding of feelings of others by similar sort of personal experience.

The use of the word empathy versus the use of the word sympathy has been a cause of mistake for several speakers of the language. Empathy on the other hand means actually experiencing the other person s feelings. Now let s understand them clearly with the help of an example. Empathy versus sympathy comparison chart.

Compared to sympathy which first appeared in english in the 16th century empathy is a relatively new coinage one originating from a relatively young science. It entered english in the mid 1500s with a very broad meaning of agreement or harmony in qualities between things or people since then the term has come to be used in a more specific way.