"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 (Curtner- Smith et al., 2006) and
partner empathy is cited as a key attribute in satisfying relationships (Busby & Gardner, 2008)."
Developing the Social Empathy Index: An Exploratory Factor Analysis (Segal+ 2012)