"Many people treat empathy the way they treat height or eye color; in other words, as something baked in from birth. We hear this in everyday phrases like "she's such a good kid" or "he's just not very sensitive," as if empathy were an inborn trait rather than something shaped over time. In our survey, more than a third of respondents were skeptical that empathy could be improved."
"Training programs designed to strengthen empathy have been evaluated in dozens of randomized controlled trials. Meta-analyses consistently show that these interventions produce meaningful improvements, particularly in the cognitive components of empathy such as perspective taking and emotion recognition. On average, the gains are medium in size, large enough to be noticeable in everyday interactions, and comparable to the effects of many widely accepted psychological interventions. The most effective programs incorporate active practice, structured feedback, and opportunities for reflection."
Many people treat empathy as an inborn trait, but decades of research across psychology, education, and neuroscience show that empathy can be strengthened. Training programs evaluated in randomized controlled trials produce meaningful, medium-sized gains, especially in cognitive empathy like perspective taking and emotion recognition. The most effective programs include active practice, structured feedback, and opportunities for reflection. Real-world experiences such as travel, learning sign language, and pet ownership can also foster empathy. Communicating empathy matters: benefits to patients, students, and employees depend on expressing empathy through nonverbal cues and appropriate verbal acknowledgment. No quick fixes exist; improvements require sustained effort and practice.
Read at Psychology Today
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