The Benefits Of Being Empathetic
Do you think you are empathetic? Have you ever wondered what the benefits of being empathetic are? In this article, we list nine benefits of being empathetic that experts have selected. Anyway, the big question is, do you think we are empathetic to make ourselves feel better or to make others feel better?
The benefits we list here relate to the quality of human relationships, self-esteem and the ability to help and understand others. Maybe they encourage you to practice and improve your empathy!
What is empathy?
The word empathy comes from the Greek empátheia which means “passion”. Psychology adopted this word from Greek in the early 2000s and expanded its original meaning. Today we know that empathy is one of the most important components of emotional intelligence.
Empathy is your ability to understand other people’s emotional lives: their thoughts, emotions, feelings, etc. It has always been understood that empathy is the ability to put yourself in someone else’s shoes. This means that you can understand another person better and feel his feelings.
Nine benefits of being empathetic
Empathy is also related to active listening, emotional support and understanding. In psychology, it is considered to be one of the basic skills that psychologists should have. They need it to be able to understand and consequently help their patients. But what other benefits come from being empathetic?
Helps you work on your acceptance skills
Fernando Catalan, psychologist and president of the Deontological Commission on Psychology in the Valencia region of Spain, says that the first benefit of being empathetic is that it allows you to work on your acceptance skills. In other words, it helps you better understand and accept people, making it easier to build social relationships.
Helps you become more persuasive
Catalan believes that this is another advantage of being empathetic, although it can be classified as a rather “selfish” advantage. According to Catalan, “If you understand the other person, you can convince him or at least try to convince him of anything” . As he says, although persuasiveness is the most self-serving part of empathy, it is still a fundamental part.
Being empathetic increases your self-esteem
Psychologist Carmen Solivares believes that the ability to be empathetic also strengthens your self-esteem. She explains that “Those who show empathy are collaborative and more successful in their reference groups, which increases their self-esteem” .
Improves your relationships with others
Psychologist and physiotherapist Laura Cano believes that this is one of the benefits of being empathetic. When you understand other people , it is easier for you to build trusting relationships with them. In fact, we all tend to be drawn to the people we feel most comfortable with.
Helps you to help others
Empathy, along with other tools for emotional intelligence, helps you help others with their problems or suffering. Through empathy, you begin to actively listen and connect with others. Thus, they feel better and less lonely.
Helps you create closer relationships
Putting yourself in other people’s shoes will help you connect with them more effectively. And this will help you create closer relationships. In other words, you are not just by the person’s side, you are trying to understand him or her in a much deeper way. This therefore promotes close and not superficial relationships.
Being empathetic is a great virtue when you have to share some bad news
Nobody likes having to present bad news. In fact, this action has been linked to a phenomenon called the MUM effect. The MUM effect occurs when you have to present bad news but are reluctant to do so. Thus, you may distort the message in some way. This is because you are afraid of being linked to the bad news yourself and also because the recipient of the message may subconsciously consider you a “bad” person. Fortunately, the ability to communicate bad news is another benefit of being empathetic. Empathy can help you do it in a “better” way, at least in a more tactful way.
Helps you become even more empathetic
Another advantage is that by being empathetic you also strengthen this ability in yourself. Because even if empathy is an inherent quality, you can still develop and improve it. By being empathetic, you develop this very skill.
Make it easier for you to get to know people
As you have seen, empathy helps you connect with others. This in turn makes it easier for you to get to know other people because they will open up to you and probably also show their inner selves. In addition, you enrich yourself as a person by getting to know other people and connecting with them.
Neuroscience and empathy
Have you heard of mirror neurons? These are the neurons that are responsible for empathy. Giacomo Rizzolatti, an Italian neurobiologist, discovered them in 1996 while experimenting with monkeys.
Rizzolatti observed how these neurons were activated when the monkeys saw certain expressions and movements of other monkeys. Later, these neurons were also discovered in humans in the frontal cortex. This specific area is our language center.
