The 4 types of empathy (and their characteristics)

These are the types of empathy that define how we relate to others.

Empathy is certainly one of the most popular concepts in science today.. Most people use it as just another word in their linguistic repertoire to define the way in which others (or they themselves) tend to become emotionally involved in their relationships.

However, empathy is a very complex phenomenon, with deep roots that go back to the phylogenetic history of human beings. It is quite true that, without it, we would not have reached the degree of social development (and cooperation) that has allowed us to reach this point.

In the following pages, we will delve deeper into this phenomenon, unraveling which are the types of empathy that science has been able to classify and how each one of them and the way in which each of them expresses itself.

What is empathy?

Empathy plays a central role in human behavior, particularly in terms of its social correlates. Every close bond between two people is subject to the influence of emotion, which allows the foundations on which it is built to remain intact, despite all the inclemencies of relational conflict. In a simple way, it could be said that through empathy we transcend the limits of the skin and enter into the experience of the other.

Science has shown that, already during the first months of life, newborns can show empathy for the Pain of others. Or that they even react empathetically to the cries of other children. However, this is an ability that tends to become more refined over the years, as we bond and share our relevant experiences. It is, therefore, a result of learning and relational exchange, although some genetic factors may also contribute.

Generally speaking, empathy could be defined as the capacity to reconstruct within ourselves the "mental states" of others, both in their cognitive andboth in its cognitive and purely emotional components. In this way, it would be possible for us to take a precise picture of what our interlocutor is feeling, mobilizing the will to help him or her or to predict his or her behavior and/or motivation. Altruism between two human beings cannot be understood by eliminating empathy from the equation.

Types of empathy

Although it may seem contradictory in some ways, the latest research on the issue shows that empathy is also a relevant element in understanding antisocial behavior, and not only from the point of view of a supposed absence of empathy. And the fact is that some of the components of this ability may be devoid of the emotional nuanceThe fact is that some of the components of this ability can be devoid of emotional nuance, participating in processes such as the simple identification of affections or intentions in the other, but without any degree of self-recognition in them (which is why it is often used as a basis for manipulation or blackmail).

Empathy involves at least three distinct processes: emotional recognition, emotional integration and the implementation of congruent behaviors. They all follow one another in a linear fashion, in such a way that the first is necessary for the appearance of the second, and the second is necessary for the appearance of the third. In recent years, the inclusion of a fourth step is being considered: the control of one's own emotional reactions, which aims to prevent this phenomenon from overflowing internal resources and eventually resulting in damage. prevent this phenomenon from overflowing the internal resources and eventually resulting in harm to the individual..

Each of these phases has received its own label, becoming related but independent realities to a certain degree. With this article we intend to explore them and detail what they consist of, thus tracing the characteristics of what has popularly come to be called "types of empathy" (although remembering that in reality they are all part of the same cognitive-affective process).

1. Cognitive empathy

Cognitive empathy is the name that has been assigned by consensus to the first part of the process: the identification of the mental state of our interlocutor. From the verbal (testimonies, confessions, etc.) and non-verbal (facial gestures, for example) contents that the other person emits during the interaction, deep and very primitive structures are activated in our brain with the objective of encoding social information, recognizing in the same act (through inferences) what is going on in the mind of the person in front of us.

At this point of the process, elementary for the rest to unfold, a general vision of what the other thinks and feels is articulated; but without there being yet a personal implication in all this. in all of this. This is why it has so often been a phenomenon equated with theory of mind, a basic milestone by which one acquires the ability to recognize the other as a subject with his or her own internal experiences and motivations, independent of one's own. This initiates the differentiation of self from others, which occurs early in life as a key part of neurological maturation.

The informative analysis of cognitive empathy focuses on the logical/rational elements, extracting from the equation any affective correlates that (by logic) would be predicted thereafter. Most people immediately go into weighing other nuances, including how all these intellectual "impressions" resonate in their own emotional life, but in other cases the process ends here. The latter assumption is one that can be found among psychopaths, to cite a well-known example.

Cognitive empathy has many uses, for example in the field of business negotiations.. This is because it would allow the identification of needs/expectations without the emotional components of the decision, which may be useful in the context at hand. However, the latter is very important for everyday life; as there is much evidence that without the contribution of affect, problems tend to be solved in a more imprecise and inefficient way.

2. Emotional empathy

Emotional empathy requires that, first, we are able to cognitively "grasp" the experience of others. Once this is achieved, we advance to a second level of elaboration, in which the emotional dimensions stand as a beacon in the vast ocean of inner lives. Generally speaking, this form of empathy endows us with the capacity to be sensitive to what others feel, essential to respond appropriately to what others feel.It is essential to respond appropriately to what they demand in the private sphere.

It is a way of sharing the inner world vicariously. The observer of the affect would synchronize with the intimate experience of the one being observed, and would experience a series of internal states very similar (though never identical) to that of the one being observed. At a cerebral level, the right supramarginal gyrus has been proven to play a key role in empathy and even compassion; a region located at the intersection between the temporal, frontal and parietal lobes.

This structure is necessary to contribute to the distinction between affects that are our own and those of othersIf it suffers any damage, a dramatic decline in this capacity is manifested. On the other hand, it is essential to bear in mind that constructive empathy requires an adequate ability to regulate what we feel, something that is directly connected with the activity of the prefrontal cortex. Without proper management of all this, we may end up overwhelmed by the pain of those around us.

Emotional empathy is not equivalent to "emotional contagion", but rather the ability to immerse ourselves in the world of others without being inexorably swallowed up by them.

Sympathy or empathic concern

The word "sympathy" comes from Greek, and could be translated as the act of "feeling the same as the other". It is a concern for the other's experience, which arises from being able to identify it and feel it in one's own skin, and which would often end up deriving from the other's experience.It is a concern for the experience of others, which arises from being able to identify and feel it in one's own skin, and which often leads to helping (prosocial) behaviors. It is, therefore, a step further within the empathic process, from which all of it would manifest itself in the social scenario through some deliberate act of altruism (and even giving).

People who reach this point in the empathic process are motivated to action, since they contribute their efforts to help in an unconditional, spontaneous and disinterested manner. However, it should be noted that sometimes the reinforcement for these acts is of a social nature (respect for the environment or relief from a feeling of guilt, e.g.), so they would not be altruistic, but rather prosocial (as they are carried out with the aim of obtaining a reward).

Nevertheless, this dimension of empathy involves the culmination of a long process of cognitive-emotional analysis, transforming intention into deeds aimed at alleviating the pain of others.. It is also the nuance that gives empathy an evident adaptive value, since it stimulates the sense of collaboration and compassion for those who belong to one's own group (to a greater extent than for outsiders).

4. Ecpathy

Ecpathy is perhaps the most recent scientific contribution to the field of empathy and compassion, although it has often been the victim of erroneous interpretations that in no way conform to reality. Through it, people learn to recognize which of the emotions they feel at a given moment do not actually belong to them, but come from a different source.but come from an external source that has "transferred" them.

With its use, the confusion would be stopped, and these contents would be approached in a different way than if they were one's own, so that one's own experience would not be lost in the internal convulsion of those who expose themselves to the pain of others.

It is, therefore, a mechanism through which it is viable to avoid the "excesses" of empathy, whose main risk lies in emotional contagion and manipulation. Thus, it can be said that it prevents the inner life of the other from dragging us in such a way as to block our capacity to act, while still preserving the possibility of recognizing and feeling everything that happens to him. It supposes the possibility of feeling, but without falling into a harmful identification.