Distinguishing Empathy from Sympathy

Empathy vs Sympathy

Although often used interchangeably, there is a distinction between empathy and sympathy. Empathy can be described as understanding the feelings of another person, where we adopt their perspective and try to understand their situation. Sympathy, in contrast, is feeling sorry for another person without adopting their perspective. We simply look at the issue from our own point of view and sympathize with the individual. Both terms represent feelings towards another person, with empathy and sympathy being attempts to understand a person’s experiences and responding to them through different approaches.

Key Takeaways

• Empathy is understanding and sharing the feelings of another person, while sympathy is feeling sorry for someone without adopting their perspective.
• In empathy, you place yourself in the other person’s shoes, while sympathy only agrees with their feelings and offers support without feeling their emotions.
• Empathy is considered a core quality in humanistic psychology and is important for counselors to develop in order to fully understand their clients.

What is Empathy?

Empathy originates from the Greek term ’empatheia,’ which means passion, partiality, or physical affection. It was later translated into English by Edward B. Titchener as ’empathy.’ Empathy is considered the ability to understand and, to some extent, share thoughts and feelings (such as happiness or sadness) for others. To feel compassion, one has to feel a significant amount of empathy. The empathizer does not just show sorrow or joy for the other person but also shares the same emotions.

In psychology, empathy is understood as stepping into another person’s shoes. This means that to understand another individual, it is necessary to see the world from their perspective. For example, students training to become counselors practice empathy because it is essential to understand the client fully to assist them. This understanding can only be gained if the counselor can empathize with the other person. In humanistic psychology, this is considered one of the core qualities that the counselor needs to improve.

What is Sympathy?

Sympathy comes from the Greek term ‘sympatheia,’ meaning suffering and passion. This is a social affinity where an individual aligns with another. The person who sympathizes feels bad or happy about the other person but fails to relate to what they are feeling. This can be considered one of the main differences between empathy and sympathy. When you empathize, you tend to understand what the person is going through, allowing you to relate to them on some level. However, when you sympathize, you do not understand the person from their point of view but instead look at the issue from your perspective. As the sympathizer, you may not understand the person’s situation but wish for them to improve or be okay.

For example, you may notice a person on the streets who appears withered and worn out. This person comes up to you and asks for some money to buy something to eat. You give them the money because you sympathize, or else you feel sorry for their condition, even though you do not empathize. Empathy and sympathy may differ from each other, but both words express strong feelings of affection on different levels. They are often misunderstood terms, but they always consider the well-being of the individual. You may or may not feel the same way as the person experiencing anguish or happiness, but empathy and sympathy strive to make the other person feel better or even better.

What is the Difference between Empathy and Sympathy?

Empathy involves responding to an individual’s perceived emotional state by experiencing their emotions. With sympathy, you merely agree with their feelings and offer support to the person without feeling their grief or happiness.

With empathy, you place yourself in the individual’s shoes, while sympathy only feels the same way as you but does not involve any attached feelings.

An empathetic individual will tell you, “I know how you feel; it is hard,” while a sympathetic individual will say, “I agree with you. I’m sorry about what happened.”