There are three types of empathy: cognitive empathy, emotional empathy, and compassionate empathy. Cognitive empathy involves understanding another person's perspective. Emotional empathy occurs when one feels the emotions of another. Compassionate empathy pushes individuals to take action based on their feelings for others. The capacity for each type of empathy fluctuates, influenced by individual circumstances and stress levels, leading to variations in empathetic responses among people in different situations.
Cognitive empathy refers to the ability to understand another person's perspective, including their reactions, thoughts, and feelings. Someone with cognitive empathy is apt to say, "I can definitely see why you reacted that way." Cognitive empathy is an essential skill for conflict resolution and exercising it during conflict strengthens relational bonds.
Emotional empathy is when you feel an emotion that another person is feeling. For example, you may tear up when a friend tearfully shares that her dog died. Emotional empathy strengthens relationships via the release of oxytocin, the 'bonding' hormone, which calms the nervous system and makes us feel a special connection to the other person.
Compassionate empathy is when a person's emotional empathy moves them into action. An example is a person who felt sad that his friend lost her home in a flood so he helped her relocate.
Our capacity for all types of empathy varies such that we may be very empathetic at times and very unempathetic at others, influenced by neurobiology and circumstances.
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