Benefits
What are the specific benefits of training empathy?
Create a separate page for each benefit of empathy.
See Also
See subfolders. Also see Benefits of Empathy
On the side bar.
"+" means "increases".
"-" means "decreases".
Understanding the connection between empathy and project success
by Ashraf Albawaleez
"#Empathy is the ability to understand and share the feelings of others. It is a valuable trait for #projectmanagers to have because it allows them to better understand the needs and concerns of team members and stakeholders, and to respond to those needs in a compassionate and effective way.
The benefits of empathy in project management
Researchers are still looking into the benefits of empathy in project management, and they are finding some remarkably interesting things. The following are some of the key benefits that have been identified.
1. Improved team cohesion and productivity
2. Enhanced communication and conflict resolution skills
3. Greater adaptability and problem-solving ability"
5 Exercise to help you build more empathy
by Thu-Huong Ha
Why is empathy so important?
“It inspires us to help family members, friends, and strangers,” . “It helps us see past differences and allows us to see others who are of a different race or a generation or ideology from our own, without the lens of stereotyping, prejudice, or bias.” Dr. Zaki
“People who experience empathy also tend to be less stressed and depressed, more satisfied with their lives, happier in their relationships, and more successful at work,”
In general, it can be concluded that empathy includes many benefits. As a way of example,
studies have shown (Gerdes and Segal, 2011; Howe, 2013; Sinclairet al., 2017) that clients who experience empathy while working with professionals manifested better results and higher levels of effectiveness.
Empathy was found to provide protection against burnout and to improve the balance of professionals’ roles (Wagman et al., 2014).
Based on these findings, Wagman et al. consider that studying empathy is justified and should be a core part of social services studies.
Furthermore, the lack of information and training resources focused on professional self-care (Newell and Nelson-Gardewell, 2014, p. 432) support our position that there needs to be more emphasis on the development of empathy in social work education. In order to develop professionalism within the social sector, educational policymakers need to assist students to develop better trust-based interactions, emotional skills and empathy. It is important for social work education to focus on empathy in students through supervision and guidance, in order to support their professional ability and develop more sustainable working environments in the social work context
Why Empathy is Important: How to Become More Empathetic
February 8, 2021
Another reason why empathy is so important is that it’s one of the best ways we can enhance our relationships, reduce our stress levels, and feel good about ourselves and our lives in an authentic way. Here are a few more benefits of empathy:
Benefits your health (less stress and less negativity which leads people to be in better shape with stronger immune systems)
Leads to a happier life
Improves communications skills
Leads to teamwork
Creates a healthy work environment
Transcends personal relationships
Decreases negativity
Turn Empathy Into Compassion Without the Empathic Distress
Empathy is associated with many positive outcomes, including improved romantic relationship satisfaction and increased levels of trust between patients and physicians. It is also a precursor to prosocial behavior. The lack thereof has been associated with bullying, aggression, and criminality.).
Why Teaching Your Child Empathy Is Important
"Here are some benefits of encouraging your children to be more empathetic beings:
1) Positive mental health. People that have strong empathy towards others exhibit higher levels of overall happiness...
2) Better relationships. In people of all ages, empathy is linked with the formation of strong and healthy relationships. ...
3) Academic and career success. Students with high empathy for others also perform better in school....
4) Discourages emotional problems. Children with empathy are unlikely to participate in bullying or risky behaviors, especially those at another person's expense.
5) Strengthens connection to the world. Empathy .....encourages children to feel a stronger connection to others, especially those in need. ...
6) Enhanced communication skills. Being able to communicate effectively with others is a requirement of succes..
7) Encourages tolerance and acceptance. In today's world, kids are exposed to a lot through media and technology...
8) Gratefulness. Empathy reminds us to be thankful for the important things in life, and that we are fortunate for the people and places we treasure..."
Importance and Benefits of Empathy
"Empathy leads to helping behavior, which benefits social relationships. We are naturally social creatures. Things that aid in our relationships with other people benefits us as well. When people experience empathy, they are more likely to engage in prosocial behaviors that benefit other people. Things such as altruism and heroism are also connected to feeling empathy for others."
Center for Empathy and the Visual Arts White Paper
The specific benefits of empathy listed below are simultaneously both professional (the ability to collaborate with others is a desired activity in most business environments) and personal (self-awareness).
Greater self-awareness and emotional intelligence
Development of altruistic behavior (moral and prosocial behavior)
Curiosity about other people as individuals
A greater understanding of global cultures, in a highly globalized world
Ability to collaborate with others
Understanding of what makes us human
Growth of humility and compassion
Workforce development (understanding the customer or the consumer’s point of view)
Enhanced creativity
Increased understanding across generations
Community bonding and empowerment
Decrease in bullying and cyber trolling
Reduction of prejudice and discrimination
"Empathic listening (also called active listening or reflective listening) is a way of listening and responding to another person that improves mutual understanding and trust. It is an essential skill for third parties and disputants alike, as it enables the listener to receive and accurately interpret the speaker's message, and then provide an appropriate response. The response is an integral part of the listening process and can be critical to the success of a negotiation or mediation. Among its benefits, empathic listening
builds trust and respect,
enables the disputants to release their emotions,
reduces tensions,
encourages the surfacing of information, and
creates a safe environment that is conducive to collaborative problem solving."
Active Listening
Carl Rogers and Richard Farson
"Active listening is an important way to bring about changes in people. Despite the popular notion that listening is a passive approach, clinical and research evidence clearly shows that sensitive listening is a most effective agent for individual personality change and group development. Listening brings about changes in peoples’ attitudes toward themselves and others; it also brings about changes in their basic values and personal philosophy.
People who have been listened to in this new and special way become
more emotionally mature,
more open to their experiences,
less defensive,
more democratic,
and less authoritarian."
Educating empathy: Inspiring students to develop their passions
Tuesday, March 6, 2018
"Research shows that the healthy development of social and behavioral skills is crucial to health and well-being. The ability to empathize, for example, allows us to have healthy interpersonal relationships, promote social understanding, and engage in altruistic acts. However, understanding and teaching empathy is too often not prioritized in our education systems, which can be detrimental to development. How can innovation address this?"
benefits
+ Healthy interpersonal relationships,
+ promote social understanding,
+ promote altruistic acts.
Youth Empathy & Social Values (YES)
"Research with young people has demonstrated an association between higher levels of empathy and a range of benefits including
Greater social competence
Better quality peer relationships
Increased conflict resolution skills
Lower aggression
Less prejudice
Greater academic achievement.
Cultivating empathy in young people therefore offers a pathway to the development of prosocial helping behaviours and social connection; to a set of values that include social responsibility; and to social action and civic engagement. In short, activating social empathy forms a crucial component of children and young people’s development and has potentially radical implications for the future of society."
Empathy and Altruism: Are They Selfish?
The psychology of empathy and altruism.
Oct 12, 2014
"Benefits of empathy
From an evolutionary standpoint, empathy is selected for because it promotes
parental care,
social attachment,
and prosocial behaviour, and so the survival of the gene pool.
It facilitates
social interactions,
group activities,
and teaching and learning,
to say nothing of social manipulation and deception.
It enables us to forsee patterns and problems,
and to respond quickly and successfully to ever-changing needs and demands.
Because it is one-step removed from us, it creates the distance or detachment required to make moraland normative judgements about others, and to take into account their long term good.
Finally, in most cases, empathy brings about a positive state both in the person empathizing and the person or people being empathized with."
Why Empathy is Declining and How to Inspire More
by Bob Avenson
Why is Empathy Important?
People with good empathy skills:
Have greater wellbeing.
Tend to have happier relationships.
Live longer, happier, healthier lives. A longitudinal Harvard study found that how happy we are in our relationships has a powerful influence on our health. Psychiatrist George Vaillant, a director of the study, said, “When the study began, nobody cared about empathy or attachment. But the key to healthy aging is relationships, relationships, relationships.”
Empathy is one of the most important abilities that help people understand each other. It is critical to building bridges between individuals and to establishing healthy relationships. We all have the capacity for empathy. Part of empathy is natural and can be honed, and the rest can be learned. Below are eight practical tips for improving empathy, but let’s understand why we are currently devaluing it."
Why Empathy is Declining and How to Inspire More
by Bob Avenson
"Why is Empathy Important?
People with good empathy skills:
Have greater wellbeing.
Tend to have happier relationships.
Live longer, happier, healthier lives. A longitudinal Harvard study found that how happy we are in our relationships has a powerful influence on our health. Psychiatrist George Vaillant, a director of the study, said, “When the study began, nobody cared about empathy or attachment. But the key to healthy aging is relationships, relationships, relationships.”
Empathy is one of the most important abilities that help people understand each other. It is critical to building bridges between individuals and to establishing healthy relationships. We all have the capacity for empathy. Part of empathy is natural and can be honed, and the rest can be learned. Below are eight practical tips for improving empathy, but let’s understand why we are currently devaluing it."
Feeling Understood—Even More Important Than Feeling Loved?
Here are 10 reasons why feeling understood is crucial to your well-being.
Leon F. Seltzer,
Jun 28, 2017
"Various acts of empathy (as long as they’re accurate!) also connote acknowledgement, understanding, and support.
So, let’s look at 10 reasons shining light on why feeling that others can grasp the meaning of your words and actions is critical to achieving an enduring sense of security and well-being.
That is, feeling understood enables you to feel:
1. You’re known.
2. Your identity is confirmed.
3. You exist.
4. You belong..
5. You’re a part of something larger than yourself. ..
6. You’re accepted....
7. You’re empowered....
8. You understand yourself better..
9. You experience more satisfaction in your relationships..
10. You’re shielded from the depths of depression...."
Developing the Social Empathy Index: An Exploratory Factor Analysis
Elizabeth A. Segal
M. Alex Wagaman
Karen E. Gerdes
"The Value of Interpersonal Empathy Empathy is
the ability to understand what other people are feeling and thinking and it is an essential skill in facilitating social agreement and successfully navigating personal relationships (de Waal, 2009).
It is critical to our survival because it requires the accurate perception, interpretation, and response to the emotional signals of others (Preston & de Waal, 2002).
Therefore, empathy is a key building block for prosocial behavior, or the actions people take that benefit others and society (Eisenberg & Mussen, 1989).
There is substantial research evidence that empathy is important in the development of healthy relationships (Toussaint & Webb, 2005);
it supplies the affective and motivational foundation for moral development (Eisenberg & Eggums, 2009; Smetana & Killen, 2008);
and promotes helping and prosocial behaviors particularly during adolescence (Batson, Chang, Orr, & Rowland, 2002; Batson, Håkansson Eklund, Chermok, Hoyt, & Ortiz, 2007; McMahon, Wernsman, & Parnes, 2006).
For youth, higher levels of empathy are associated with increased conflict resolution (de Weid, Branje, & Meeus, 2007) and
willingness to come to the defense of a bullied peer (Gini, Albiero, Benelli, & Altoe, 2007).
Parental empathy has been cited as crucial for raising healthy children (CurtnerSmith et al., 2006) and
partner empathy is cited as a key attribute in satisfying relationships (Busby & Gardner, 2008).
The absence of empathy can lead to destructive behaviors and adversely affect relationships. A lack of interpersonal empathy is associated with narcissism, bullying, violent crime, abusive parenting, spousal battering, and sexual offending (Covell, Huss, & Langhinrichsen-Rohling, 2007; Elsegood & Duff, 2010; Gini, Albieri, Benelli, & Altoe, 2008; Joliffe & Farrington, 2004; Ritter et al., 2011).
In spite of so much compelling research on the value of empathy, definitions and conceptualizations vary greatly. The diversity of definitions and measurement devices makes comparisons between empathy studies challenging (Gerdes, 2011; Gerdes, Segal, & Lietz, 2010).
Empathy: Caring for Others Is Good for You
September 21, 2017
By Dr. Mercola
"Why It’s Beneficial to Practice Empathy
Beyond stress relief, why is it so important to be empathetic? Chad Fowler, CTO of 6Wunderkinder, the maker of Wunderlist mobile app, shared the following reasons why he believes your most important skill is empathy:13
You will be more likely to treat the people you care about the way they wish you would treat them.
You will understand the unspoken parts of your communication with others.
You will be able to more accurately predict the actions and reactions of people you interact with.
You will experience the world in higher resolution as you perceive through not only your perspective but the perspectives of those around you.
You will better understand the needs of people around you.
You will better understand the needs of your customers at work.
You will learn how to motivate the people around you.
You will find it easier to deal with the negativity of others if you can better understand their motivations and fears.
You will more clearly understand the perception you create in others with your words and actions.
You will have less trouble dealing with interpersonal conflict both at home and at work.
You will more effectively convince others of your point of view."
QUOTES
”Our ability to offer empathy can allow us to stay vulnerable, defuse potential violence, help us hear the word 'no' without taking it as a rejection, revive lifeless conversation, and even hear the feelings and needs expressed through silence.”
Marshall Rosenberg
Helen Riess, The Science of Empathy
"Empathy plays a critical interpersonal and societal role, enabling sharing of experiences, needs, and desires between individuals and providing an emotional bridge that promotes pro-social behavior."
Helen Riess, The Science of Empathy
"Self- and other-empathy leads to replenishment and renewal of a vital human capacity. If we are to move in the direction of a more empathic society and a more compassionate world, it is clear that working to enhance our native capacities to empathize is critical to strengthening individual, community, national, and international bonds."
"Practical benefits of empathy are
how a parent can '”read” their infant's needs,
how a dispute can be diffused before it leads to conflict,
how different perspectives can be appreciated,
and how we can live not just in our own heads but in others' heads too."
- Simon Baron-Cohen
“Empathy underlies virtually everything that makes society work - like trust, altruism, collaboration, love, charity. Failure to empathize is a key part of most social problems-crime, violence, war, racism, child abuse, and inequity, to make just a few” (Szalavitz & Perry, 2010, p. 4).
- Bruce D. Perry, Born for Love: Why Empathy Is Essential--and Endangered
“The risks for heart disease, stroke, depression, diabetes, asthma, and even many cancers are all affected by trauma-related changes in the stress response system. Empathy and connection affect physical—not just mental—wellness and health.”
- Bruce D. Perry, Born for Love: Why Empathy Is Essential--and Endangered