Which term describes the ability to identify with and understand another person's feelings?

Which term describes the ability to identify with and understand another person's feelings?

• A. Empathy
• B. Sympathy
• C. Compassion
• D. Apathy

Answer: (A)

Empathy is the ability to identify with and understand another person’s feelings, and to respond in a way that shows you recognize and relate to what they’re experiencing. It involves both recognizing what someone is feeling (cognitive understanding) and sometimes sharing in that emotion (affective sharing), which helps you respond with appropriate support. Sympathy is feeling concern or sorry for someone’s situation, but it doesn’t require you to understand or share their exact feelings. Compassion adds a motivation to help alleviate the other person’s suffering, going beyond understanding to action. Apathy is a lack of interest or concern, the opposite of empathy. So, the term that best matches identifying with and understanding another person’s feelings is empathy.

Empathy is the ability to identify with and understand another person’s feelings, and to respond in a way that shows you recognize and relate to what they’re experiencing. It involves both recognizing what someone is feeling (cognitive understanding) and sometimes sharing in that emotion (affective sharing), which helps you respond with appropriate support.

Sympathy is feeling concern or sorry for someone’s situation, but it doesn’t require you to understand or share their exact feelings. Compassion adds a motivation to help alleviate the other person’s suffering, going beyond understanding to action. Apathy is a lack of interest or concern, the opposite of empathy.

So, the term that best matches identifying with and understanding another person’s feelings is empathy.