The word ‘empathy’ was coined in 1909 from the German word ‘einfühlung’ meaning ‘feeling into’. Prior to this, the closest word to empathy was ‘sympathy’, which is loosely described as feeling sorrow for other people’s troubles and adversities.
Empathy can be divided into three categories, all essentially interlinked:
Affective empathy: this refers to the different feelings we get when we respond to other people and their emotions. We may either mirror or share in other people’s feelings.
Cognitive empathy: this is when we see the other person’s perspective. We are able to put ourselves in the shoes of another person by identifying and understanding those emotions.
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