Empathy is a skill that allows us to connect with others and understand them. We present some benefits of this valuable tool!
Last update: February 19, 2022
Do you consider yourself an empathic person? Have you ever wondered what are the benefits of empathy? In this article, we list nine benefits recognized by some experts. Are we empathic to get better or to make others feel better?
The benefits we are about to list they have to do with the quality of interpersonal relationships, self-esteem and the ability to help and understand others. Surely discovering them will push us to practice and refine our empathy.
The human being has a great ability, and it is the power of empathy.
-Meryl Streep, attrice-
What is empathy?
The word "empathy" comes from the Greek empátheia, which means "passion". This word was borrowed from psychology in the early XNUMXth century. Since that time, its meaning has been expanded. Today we know that empathy is one of the most important skills of those that make up emotional intelligence.
It is about the ability to understand the emotional universe of those in front of us; this includes his thoughts, his emotions, his feelings. In other words, it is equivalent to putting yourself in the other's shoes. Through it we can understand a person thoroughly by experiencing the same emotions that she feels.
9 benefits of empathy
Empathy is possible through active listening, emotional support and understanding. In psychology it is considered one of the fundamental skills of the psychologist, necessary to understand and help manage human suffering. But what are the benefits of being empathetic?
Learn to accept others
Fernando Catalán, psychologist and president of the Deontology Commission of the Official College of Psychology of the Valencian Community (COPCV) says that the main benefit of empathy is that this skill helps us to work on acceptance. This means that it helps us understand and accept people better, which fosters cordial social relations.
It helps us persuade others
It might sound like a selfish proposition, but Catalán sees it as another of the benefits of empathy. According to this psychologist "if you understand the other person, you may be able to convince him or try to convince him of something". As he suggests, although convincing someone is the most concerned side of empathy, it is not for that reason that it is not essential.
Strengthen self-esteem
Psychologist Maria Carmen Solivares believes that being empathetic helps us strengthen our self-esteem. Soliveres explains this concept as follows: “those who show empathy are oriented towards collaboration and achieve greater success in the groups they belong to, which increases their self-esteem”.
Benefits of Empathy: Promotes interpersonal relationships
Psychologist and psychotherapist Laura Cano includes greater socialization among the benefits of empathy. This is because when people feel understood they are more inclined to build solid relationships.
We all go back to where we were happy.
It allows us to help others
Thanks to empathy and other skills of emotional intelligence, we can help others solve their problems or their suffering. When we are empathic, we activate active listening and connect with others; all of this can make them feel better or less alone.
Try to understand first be understood.
-Stephen Covey-
We establish warmer relationships
When we put ourselves in others' shoes, we connect with that person and this fosters closer and warmer relationships. That is to say, we don't just stay with that person, we try to understand them thoroughly, and this drives away superficial relationships.
Most people prefer to give than to receive affection.
-Aristotle-
Benefits of empathy: Helps communicate bad news
No one likes giving bad news. In fact, this action is associated with a particular effect called the MUM effect that is activated when we have to communicate bad news. It follows the tendency to resist and distort the bad news for fear of being associated with it in an unconscious way and, therefore, of being considered less "good" or less attractive.
Thankfully, learning to break bad news is another benefit of empathy. Well, this skill can help us do it better or be more tactful.
It allows you to develop more empathy
While empathy is a deeply intrinsic value in each of us, it can also be learned and improved upon. So when we show empathy, we develop this skill further.
Other benefits of empathy: Helps you get to know people better
Empathy helps us understand others better. As a result, we know them better because they open up to us and are more likely to show us their inner world.
Getting to know people and getting in touch with them enriches us as human beings.
Neuroscience and empathy
Are you familiar with the concept of mirror neurons? Well, these are those neurons that promote empathy. They were discovered in 1996 by Giacomo Rizzaloti, an Italian neurobiologist who studied macaque monkeys.
Rizzaloti noted that these neurons were activated when the monkeys saw their peers make certain movements and express certain emotions.
Some time later, these neurons were also detected in humans in a specific area of ​​the brain: the lower frontal cerebral cortex (i.e., the language center).
Empathy is about finding echoes of a person in yourself.
-Mohsin Hamid-
