Empathy is the ability to understand what another person is feeling, see from that person's point of view, and also imagine yourself in that person's position. Empathy plays an important role in building and maintaining relationships between human beings.
Humans have begun to show signs of empathy since infancy and will further develop during childhood and adolescence. However, one person's level of empathy can be different from another. There are people who are easy to empathize with, others are difficult to do so.
This difference in the level of empathy can be influenced by several factors, including the social environment in childhood or now, the way you view things, parenting patterns, past experiences, and expectations.
Characteristics of Empathy
There are several characteristics that indicate whether you are a person who has high empathy. The following are among them:
- Have high concern and kindness towards others
- Is a good listener
- Good at understanding other people's feelings
- Often used as a place to vent by others
- Often think about other people's feelings
- Often asked to be a counselor for other people's problems
- Often feel burdened by tragic events
- Always try to help others who are suffering
- It's easy to tell when someone is telling the truth
- Sometimes feeling tired or overwhelmed in social situations
Various Benefits of Empathy
Having a high sense of empathy brings many benefits, not only for yourself, but also for others. Following are some of them:
1. Build social relationships
Empathy is needed to build social relationships with other people. With empathy, you will be able to understand what other people are thinking and feeling. You will also be trained to respond appropriately in all social situations.
2. Regulate your own emotions
Empathizing with others will also train you to control your emotions. That way, you will not easily feel stressed.
3. Practice helping behavior
When you empathize, you can imagine what it would be like to be in someone else's shoes. This will encourage you to do something that can ease the person's burden or problem.
Therefore, a sense of empathy is also useful for practicing mutual help behavior or altruism between fellow humans. Empathy is also an important element in the delivery of the language of love.
Tips for Cultivating Empathy
Because empathy is an ability, you can build or strengthen it. Here are some ways you can cultivate and strengthen empathy:
- Hang out with people who have a different background from yours.
- When communicating with others, pay attention to body language and other forms of nonverbal communication, such as facial expressions.
- Try to listen to the other person as best you can, without interrupting.
- Try to understand the other person, even if you don't really agree or disagree with him or her.
- Often put yourself in other people's shoes.
Growing and strengthening empathy cannot be done instantly. However, continue to do the above methods every day. Over time, your empathy will be honed and you will soon find it useful, especially in your social life.
The methods above can be done without producing empathy, because practicing them may also be difficult for some people. If you feel this is causing obstacles in your daily life, don't hesitate to consult a psychologist to get the right solution.