Empathy vs Sympathy
From a video by The RSA
What is the best way to ease someone's pain and suffering? In this 3 minute, animated RSA Short, Dr Brené Brown reminds us that we can only create a genuine empathic connection if we are brave enough to really get in touch with our own fragilities.
Dr Brené Brown is a research professor and best-selling author of "Daring Greatly: How the Courage to be Vulnerable Transforms the Way We Live, Love, Parent and Lead". She has spent years studying vulnerability, courage, worthiness, and shame.
What is empathy and why is it very different than sympathy?
There are four qualities of empathy:
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Perspective taking - ability to take the perspective of another person or recognise their perspective as their truth.
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Staying out of judgment - not easy when you enjoy it as much as most of us do.
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Recognising emotion in other people, then communicating that.
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Empathy is feeling WITH people.
If I share something with you that's very difficult, I'd rather you say, "I don't even know what to say. I'm just so glad you told me." Because the truth is, rarely can a response make something better. What makes something better is connection.
Watch the 3 minute video:
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From a video by The RSA, 07/07/2020