Empathy, Sympathy, and Apathy

Source: Teachthought Published: April 2020

Source: Teachthought
Published: April 2020

Empathy, Sympathy, and Apathy

Circulated: July 10, 2020

Empathy

• the ability to share and understand the feelings of others

• taking the perspective of another, relating to what they are feeling

• feeling with someone

Sympathy

• feeling bad for someone; pity

• does not require sharing or understanding the feelings of another

• feeling for someone

Apathy

• the absence of feelings for others or life activities

• opposite of empathy

• can be considered a medical condition