Empathy

Empathy is the recognition and understanding of the feelings and emotions of another individual. In a more general sense, it represents the recognition of one's non-emotional states, such as one's own beliefs. In the latter case, it is more specifically a question of cognitive empathy2.

In everyday language, the phenomenon of empathy is often illustrated by the expression “putting oneself in the other's shoes” 3.

This understanding occurs through a decentration of the person (or animal) and can lead to actions linked to the survival of the subject targeted by the empathy4, independently, and sometimes even to the detriment of the interests of the subject feeling the empathy. .

In the study of interpersonal relationships, empathy is therefore different from the notions of sympathy, compassion, altruism or emotional contagion, which may be associated with it.