3 difference between sympathy and empathy

If you hang out with mental health nerds for more than five minutes, you’ll probably hear them talking about empathy. It’s been a huge area of research in the past couple of decades, and scholars like Brené Brown have made it easy for us to understand how important empathy is to our relationships and emotional health.

But there’s also some confusion. What is empathy, exactly? And how do we define empathy versus sympathy?

Sympathy vs empathy psychology

The difference is subtle but important. Let’s check it out. 

What’s the Difference Between Empathy and Sympathy? 

Empathy and sympathy are both ways we respond to the suffering of people around us. But there’s a crucial difference: Sympathy is acknowledging someone else’s pain, but empathy is choosing to feel the pain with them.

Sympathy says, “I care about you,” and empathy says, “I’m hurting with you.” 

I know this is an abstract idea, so let’s break it down some more.   

What Is Sympathy? 

Sympathy is being aware of and s

show symphaty

empathy showing