- How do you show empathy if you can't relate?
- Can you have empathy for some people and not others?
- Can we empathize with someone we don't like?
How do you show empathy if you can't relate?
“I can't imagine what you must be going through.” “I wish I could make it better.” “My heart hurts for you.” “It makes me really sad to hear this happened.”
Can you have empathy for some people and not others?
Empathy isn't an all-or-nothing quality. Think of it as a continuum. Some people are naturally more empathetic, while others are less so. Other factors, including situational variables, can affect how much empathy people feel at any given time.
Can we empathize with someone we don't like?
If you find someone's values are offensive to you, try and understand the basic emotions underlying their values. Understanding their primal feelings such as fear, desire to survive, and fear of missing out for example, will humanise them and make them more relatable to you.