Are you an empathetic person?

Ronni

Ronni

Well-known Member
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Nashville TN
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It took me some time as a young person to realize that I was an empath. There were times I could physically feel another’s pain for example, a whisper of it, and it was confusing and even upsetting sometime, until I realized what was going on.

I cry at others’ hardships, emotional pain, difficulties because it’s like I’m living it myself in that moment.

Its not always comfortable, but having known people who are at or close to the other end of the spectrum, I’d much prefer empathy. You?
 

Absolutely. I learned at a very young age that feelings and emotions are 2 of our strongest sentiments that make up our personality. Someone that doesn’t feel others pain or are what’s known as being a cold person, may not have many close friends.

Anytime someone tells me they lost (death) a close friend or relative, I know that they are feeling very low and words of comfort will at least validate that person’s feelings or emotions. To say, “don’t worry, it’ll get better, time heals all wounds” or similar things is kind of just blowing that person off. I have trouble finding the right words sometimes if it’s a female because I know they are more emotional, so I try to be more sensitive to their feelings, especially if the deceased is a parent, child or sibling.
 
oldaunt said:
There is a difference between empathic and empathetic. Which do you actually mean?
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Either way. I probably do feel more empathy than the average person. I have said this several times. My mom and dad were killed when I was 9 years old. I know emotional pain and probably could give a lecture on it. Even 50 plus years later, I can still remember every word my grandpa told me that afternoon when my parents were gone. It’s something that doesn’t go away, so yeah, I fully understand when a person loses someone very close to them. It can be the worse day in their life.
 
oldaunt said:
There is a difference between empathic and empathetic. Which do you actually mean?
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It depends on whether you’re discussing grammar or psychology.

Etymology of Empathic and Empathetic​

Both words come from the noun empathy, which means “the ability to understand and share the feelings of another.” Both forms of the adjective(empathic and empathetic) are recognized by the Oxford English Dictionary and Merriam-Webster. Therefore, you’re free to choose the form you prefer.

Then there’s this:
Psychology Today
 
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Alligatorob said:
Took the Empathy Quiz ( https://greatergood.berkeley.edu/quizzes/take_quiz/empathy ) and found:

Your empathy score is 77 out of 110, indicating a moderate level of empathy in general.

Probably not too far wrong. I'd like to be more empathic, but don't really know how.
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i'm going to go take a look at that quiz in a minute. But even without doing that i can tell you that i don't feel 'high empathy' is as important as learning how to respond to the pain of others in ways that are are supportive of, comforting if not outright helpful than wanting to weep or be outraged FOR them. It is a disservice to the sufferer to usurp their pain. +-
 
Ok looked at the quiz. It has good and bad features. Did a small bit of 'honesty check by flipping some scenarios and seeing if the response flipped and if so at same level (i.e. if when worded differently you agree or disagree to same degree as when worded oppositely. The most trusted personality tests do this, but they also tend to have a lot more questions so unless you've had some education in the field you're not as likely to notice.

Question 14 about 'trying to understand my friends better by imagining how things look from their perspective'. The words i put in bold seem 'wrong' to me at least in terms of applying to my life. i know enough about my friends lives, backgrounds, character and typical emotional response that i do not have to 'try' or 'imagine' i have a very good grasp how things seem to them. For that matter because i actually pay attention to what even people i don't have much in common with or similar values to have to say even on social media. So i often have a good idea how some people will respond to topics even i don't feel close enough to call them friend. This happens because they've shown how they feel about certain things on other threads. I don't have to basically 'like' someone as a person to empathize when they get physically injured or suffer a common human emotional blow (like divorce or death of a loved one).

The demographic info they ask about nags at me. On the one hand i understand they want to see if patterns emerge in age, gender or ethnic groups. But the question about birth order is BS, because in todays world of many 'blended' families i'm pretty sure i'm not the only person who has experienced more than one 'position'.
i was an only for my first year, my 3 older half sisters arrived to live with us and i was suddenly the youngest, the baby. After parents divorce my relationship with older sisters was sporadic and mostly long distance with occasional visits. So much an only (and latch key kid at that) for some 5 1/2 yrs till my baby brother was born, and i had much of the responsibility for his care---big time 'oldest' child experience. (Today they call my Mom's expectations of me 'parentification'.) So this outfit clearly isnt being realistic about the 'birth order' experiences assuming the options they listed the only possibility.
 
I got halfway through the empathy test and then got tired of it and closed the window. I don't like taking tests.

I think I'm pretty empathetic, though. I can even see the point of view of white supremacists and other extremists. Of course I don't agree with them and don't think they should be given a pass when they get violent, but it's interesting to explore why they do what they do.

I get really sad when I hear about or see animal abuse since they're defenseless creatures when they're subjected to human cruelty. And usually there's only a slap on the wrist if the abusers are punished at all. If I had my way, I'd shut down all the factory farms.
 
SeniorBen said:
I can even see the point of view of white supremacists and other extremists. Of course I don't agree with them and don't think they should be given a pass when they get violent, but it's interesting to explore why they do what they do.
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Good point, understanding where others are coming from really helps me. And its probably the only way one would have any chance of changing the mind of someone like a white supremacist. They seem to thrive on confrontation.
 
Ronni said:
It depends on whether you’re discussing grammar or psychology.

Etymology of Empathic and Empathetic​

Both words come from the noun empathy, which means “the ability to understand and share the feelings of another.” Both forms of the adjective(empathic and empathetic) are recognized by the Oxford English Dictionary and Merriam-Webster. Therefore, you’re free to choose the form you prefer.

Then there’s this:
Psychology Today
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And if you lack that ability, aren't you a sociopath? Or is it psychopath?
 

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