Empathy, which entered psychology and psychiatry in the 1900s, has multiple definitions. During these times, some researchers believed empathy was an innate biological ability, while others believed it could be learnt and developed through experience, intuition and imagination, or brain functions.
Today, empathy is noticing, understanding, and sharing others' emotions. Understanding someone's feelings from their perspective is key to empathy . Simply said, it's the ability to put yourself in someone else's shoes and understand their feelings.
The most crucial part of empathy is understanding and interpreting the other person's feelings and thoughts without being egotistical. The empathizer must also communicate the empathic circumstance to the other person.
Complete empathy is not achieved unless the person accurately understands and communicates the sentiments of the person being empathised with. Even if they understand, expressing another's feelings and thoughts is hardest.
Carl Rogers' definitions and explanations of empathy are remembered today. Empathy was defined differently during Rogers' career, but his 1970s version is comparable to the one used today.
A person puts himself in the other person's shoes, looks at events from their perspective, and appropriately understands, feels, and communicates their feelings and thoughts.
To empathise, one must put themselves in another's shoes and see things from their perspective. Thus, to understand another, one must perceive and live like them. To do this, he must play the person he wishes to empathise with and see events from their perspective.
Empathy requires understanding the other person's feelings and thoughts. Thus, empathy must be understood cognitively and emotionally. By putting yourself in their shoes, you might learn to grasp what they believe and feel.
The empathizer's ability to communicate their understanding is the final component of empathy. Although the other person's feelings and thoughts are understood, empathy is incomplete unless they can be expressed.
Different ideas explain how empathy, a key human trait, develops. However, evidence shows that empathy begins in infancy. Some specialists believe that neonates are bothered by others' weeping from birth, which may be the earliest indication of empathy.
Empathic interest and empathy levels affect how families punish their children, according to studies. Discipline that emphasises how actions hurt others strengthens a child's empathy. Instead of stating, "You were naughty," parents should remark, "Look, you made him/her very upset," to foster empathy.
The way others treat them in difficulty also shapes empathy. Imitating a parent who assists troubled people helps children develop empathy.