Empathy versus Compassion – what’s the difference?

In a previous blog I looked at the meaning of compassion, linking it to the outpouring of grief and the actions of people up and down the country following the death of Queen Elizabeth II. Then I followed this up with a blog about the Benefits of Compassion in the Workplace.

Now I want to explore another human nature and reaction to distress, grief, or sorrow – empathy.

As a quick recap, compassion means “to suffer together.” Researchers concerned with studying human emotions and feelings define compassion as “the feeling that arises when you are confronted with another’s suffering and feel motivated to relieve that suffering.”

Meanwhile, empathy refers to “experiencing another person's negative or positive emotions as if they were your own.”

The primary difference between compassion vs empathy is the desire to ‘take action.’

How are aware are you when you take action to support others? Photo Mason Kimbarovsky Unsplash

Both concepts link with understanding the feelings of others, but where compassion involves actions directed at helping people, empathy doesn’t necessarily involve any actions.

There are two types of empathy - emotional empathy and cognitive empathy.

Emotional empathy is when a person directly feels the same feelings as another person.

Cognitive empathy is slightly more detached. Rather than ‘experiencing,’ a person simply ‘understands’ cognitively what another person is going through - but might remain in a different emotional state. 

Now let’s examine the three primary areas of difference between empathy and compassion.

Action versus feeling

Whilst compassion requires ‘action’ to relieve someone’s pain, empathy simply involves ‘feeling’ that pain.

Feelings of compassion and empathy activate different areas of the brain - merely experiencing empathy versus going out of your way to perform a caregiving activity.

Choice versus reflex

To fully experience compassion, you must make a choice to do so. On the other hand, empathy is a reflexive emotional response.

Furthermore, compassion is more of a practice, whereas empathy can occur regardless of whether or not you attempt to cultivate it.

Mindfulness versus distress

Compassion results from a more calm and mindful state than empathy.

Whilst compassion allows you to deeply take on a person’s suffering without losing your sense of self-awareness and stability, empathy can leave you in just as much emotional pain and distress as the other person.

To understand empathy in more detail, we now need to understand how it relates to our everyday lives.

Watch out for my next blog: “The importance of empathy in business.”

Finally, as I have mentioned many times, Empathy and Compassion are 2 of the specific 24 Strengths from the Strengthscope psychometric that I utilise with many of my clients. A Strength is something that energises you, or not, in varying degrees.

If you’d like to explore the subject of Empathy more deeply, please contact me via Email: russell@theresiliencecoach.co.uk.