Do you know the difference between Empathy and Sympathy?

By Madam Rose

These two words are used interchangeably but they do have distinct differences.

Definition of Empathy

The Merriam-Webster.com dictionary defines empathy as the action of understanding, being aware of, being sensitive to, and vicariously experiencing the feelings, thoughts, and experiences of another in either the past or present without having the feelings, thoughts, and experiences fully communicated in an objectively explicit manner.

Empathy is, at its simplest, awareness of the feelings and emotions of other people. It is a key element of Emotional Intelligence, the link between self and others because it is how we as individuals understand what others are experiencing as if we were feeling it ourselves.

Definition of Sympathy

An affinity, association, or relationship between persons or things wherein whatever affects one similarly affects the other. It is the act or capacity of entering into or sharing the feelings or interests of another.

In a sense, sympathy is feeling bad for someone else because of something that has happened to them. We often talk about it and feel sympathetic when someone has died, or something bad has happened, saying ‘Give them my sympathy’, or ‘I really feel for them'.

Empathy goes far beyond sympathy, which might be considered 'feeling for' someone. Empathy instead, is 'feeling with' that person, through the use of imagination.

Sympathy vs. Empathy

Sympathy and empathy are closely related words, bound by shared origins and the similar circumstances in which each is applicable, yet they are not synonymous. For one thing, sympathy is considerably older than empathy, having existed in our language for several hundred years before its cousin was introduced, and its greater age is reflected in a wider breadth of meaning. Sympathy may refer to "feelings of loyalty" or "unity or harmony in action or effect," meanings not shared by empathy. In the contexts where the two words do overlap, sympathy implies sharing (or having the capacity to share) the feelings of another, while empathy tends to be used to mean imagining, or having the capacity to imagine, feelings that one does not actually have.

Sympathy equates passively. An example that we often hear after a tragic event is “I am sorry for your loss,” but empathy, in my opinion, holds more substance. The empathetic person “feels” the pain experienced by a loss. It may not be in the same capacity as the one who experienced the loss, but the power of the emotion is there.

People who regularly display empathy feel emotions deeper than most. Along with those deep feelings also comes a refractory period. A time in which the empathic person needs time to recover from the deep feelings that they have experienced. The needed time may vary from person to person, but it might entail some solitude, meditation, peace in nature, or any other refueling tool. One does not have to experience the same event to exude empathy.

Empathy is not a replication of an experience, but a flood of feelings. If you regularly experience empathy, take time to care for yourself. Follow this link for ideas - Self-Care for Empaths.