Friday, June 13, 2008
Chapter 16 Empathy
In chapter 16 empathy is said to be an important skill in interpersonal communication . Empathy is defined as the ability to show your conversational partner that you understand his or her situation (p. 507). Empathy is an important characteristic to have in a conversation because you need to make the other person in the conversation know what they are going through. Empathy and sympathy are two different concepts. Sympathy is feeling bad for someone. Being empathetic can help an individual in conversations because it lets them know that they are not the only person going through the issue. There have been many situations in my life where I have been empathetic to friends who have dealt with a breakup with a boyfriend as well as they have been empathetic to certain situations that I have been in.
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I believe empathy is what differentiates us from serial killers. They are unable to put themselves in the victim's shoes and feel the fear that their victims have. This is why they are socially maladjusted and unable to function in society. So it goes beyond just being able to communicate--I think it's a part of being a human being. Being empathetic is something all people who want to be effective communicators should consciously do. We really can't understand anything but our own personal perspective unless we put ourselves in their shoes, or try to imagine to. We will never be able to fully understand or experience what they're going through, but at least we can get a somewhat accurate sense of what they're going through...such as a breakup.
I think the example of listening and showing a friend empathy during a break up is a great example. It is not exaclty sympthy because it doesn't make you want to do something about the situation but you are letting them know that you understand them. I had a friend a while ago who went through a rough break up and me and my friends took her to park and just let her talk and we were there to let her know we understand what she is going through.
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