EMPATHY may be measured and valued differently among various cultures, but many researchers have agreed that empathy is crucial both at home and at the work-place.
Joanne Trotta, CEO of LeaderEdge Inc., said empathy “is not just about feelings, emotions and connecting more effectively with others, although that would be reason enough to take it more seriously. Empathy delivers real-world benefits to organizations and is related directly to societal and organizational success in measurable ways.”
ScienceDaily reported recently that a new study on 4,000 children monitored over four years found that children who felt their parents were empathic were less likely to commit delinquent acts, including crime.
Moreover, the new findings “demonstrate that parents/caregivers who display greater empathy enhance their teenagers’ own development of empathy, or the ability to acknowledge and understand the feelings of others.”
According to Harvard’s Graduate School of Education, “Empathy begins with the capacity to take another perspective, to walk in another’s shoes. But it is not just that capacity. Salespeople, politicians, actors and marketers are often very skilled at taking other perspectives but they may not care about others. Con men and torturers take other perspectives so they can exploit people’s weaknesses. Empathy includes valuing other perspectives and people. It’s about perspective-taking and compassion.”
How can parents cultivate empathy?
Harvard’s Graduate School of Education provides the following tips:
1) Empathize with your child and model empathy for others.
Children learn empathy both from watching us and from experiencing our empathy for them.
2) Make caring for others a priority and set high ethical expectations.
If children are to value others’ perspectives and show compassion for them, it’s very important that they hear from their parents that caring about others is a top priority, and that it is just as important as their own happiness.
3) Provide opportunities for children to practice empathy.
Children are born with the capacity for empathy, but it needs to be nurtured throughout their lives. Learning empathy is in certain respects like learning a language or a sport. It requires practice and guidance.
4) Expand your child’s circle of concern.
It’s important that we guide children in understanding and caring for many kinds of people who are different from them and who may be facing challenges very different from their own challenges.
5) Help children develop self-control and manage feelings effectively.
Often when children don’t express empathy it’s not because they don’t have it. It’s because some feeling or image is blocking their empathy. Often the ability to care for others is overwhelmed, for example, by anger, shame, envy, or other negative feelings. Helping children manage these negative feelings as well as stereotypes and prejudices about others is often what “releases” their empathy.
