The Benefits Of Being Empathic
Do you consider yourself an empathic person? Ever wonder what the benefits of being empathic are? In this article, we will list 9 benefits according to some experts, although there are many others. Do you think we have empathy to feel better or to make others feel better? The debate is open…
The benefits we will list relate to the quality of interpersonal relationships, self-esteem, and the ability to help and understand others. Reading some of them will certainly encourage you to practice and increase your empathy.
What is empathy?
The word empathy comes from the Greek empatheia, which means ‘passion’. This word was taken from the Greeks by psychology in the beginning of the 20th century. As a result, its meaning was expanded. We now know that empathy is one of the most important skills that make up emotional intelligence.
It is the ability to understand another person’s emotional life; this includes your thoughts, emotions, feelings… As we’ve said before, empathy implies the ability to put yourself in the other’s shoes. That is, thanks to it, we can understand a person in depth, feeling the same emotions as him.
9 benefits of being empathic
Empathy is also related to active listening, emotional support and understanding. In psychology, it is considered one of the basic skills of the psychologist, necessary to understand and help alleviate human suffering. But what other benefits do we find in being empathetic?
It allows us to work on acceptance
Fernando Catalán, psychologist and president of the Deontological Commission of the Official College of Psychology of the Valencian Community (COPCV), says that the first benefit of being empathetic is that it allows us to work on acceptance. In other words, it helps us to better understand and accept people, which facilitates the emergence of a cordial social relationship.
helps us persuade
Although this is perhaps more “selfish”, Catalan also considers it one of the benefits of being empathetic. According to the psychologist, “if you understand the other person, you can convince them or try to convince them of something”. As he suggests, although convincing is the most interested part of empathy, it is nonetheless fundamental.
Strengthens self-esteem
Psychologist Maria Carmen Soliveres believes that being empathic also allows us to reinforce our self-esteem. Soliveres explains: “those people who demonstrate empathy are oriented towards collaboration and are more successful in their reference groups, which increases self-esteem.”
Facilitates relationships with people
Psychologist and psychotherapist Laura Cano considers this item one of the benefits of being empathetic. That’s because when people feel understood, it’s easier for us to establish trusting relationships with them.
Empathy allows us to help others
Through empathy, combined with other tools or skills of emotional intelligence, we can help people in their problems or suffering. With empathy, we activate active listening and connect with them, which can make it easier for them to feel less alone (and better).
We build warmer relationships
By putting ourselves in someone’s shoes, we connect better with that person, and this helps create warmer, closer relationships. In other words, we are not limited to being with that person, but rather trying to understand him deeply, and this encourages this type of relationship, very different from superficial relationships.
Helps to communicate bad news
Breaking bad news is not pleasant for anyone. In fact, this action has been related to a phenomenon called the MUM effect. This effect occurs when we must communicate bad news; thus, it gives its name to this tendency to resist it, or to distort bad news, for fear of being unconsciously associated with it and, by extension, being considered less attractive.
Fortunately, learning to deliver bad news would be another benefit of being empathetic. Therefore, this ability can help us to do it “better” or more tactfully.
Allows you to develop more empathy
Another benefit of being empathic is that when we do, we are training to be even more (or better). That is, empathy, although it is a very intrinsic value in each one of us, can also be learned and improved. So when we’re empathetic, we’re developing that same skill even more.
It helps to get to know people better
As we’ve seen, empathy helps us connect with others. This, in turn, allows us to get to know people better, as they open up and show their inner world more easily.
Neuroscience and Empathy
Does the concept of mirror neurons sound familiar? These are the neurons that favor the capacity for empathy. They were discovered in 1996 by Giacomo Rizzaloti, an Italian neurobiologist, in a survey of monkeys.
Rizzaloti observed how these neurons were activated when monkeys saw certain movements and emotions expressed by other monkeys. Some time later, these neurons were also found in humans, in a specific area of the brain: the inferior frontal cerebral cortex (ie, the language center).
