what is your definition of empathy?is it a learned behavior?does not having it mean theres something wrong?

Question

studys find that people who are catagorized autistic and as being a psychopath dont have the capability for empathy

Answer 1

Empathy is showing concern and solidarity for someone else without expecting anything in return.

A sociopath can be a product of his environment, of a troubled childhood, and/or a chemical imbalance in the brain as well as other factors.

Normally children do exhibit empathy at a very young age. But I believe that empathy must be continously taught and reinforced by parents in order for it to become ingrained in childhood and eventually until adulthood.

I once heard an expert state that when a toddler first sees that a doll's head is missing and then tries to reattach it - he/she is acting upon a sense of morality because he/she knows that something is wrong with the condition of the doll. These are the first simple steps in distinguishing right from wrong.

The article below relates an interesting study on babies and altruism.

Answer 2

I think people are born with the instinct for empathy or not. But they can also learn how. There are coaches who think they are helping by shouting at you, and while they do want to help you learn, and have empathy for the lack of skill, it's not the way to teach it to everyone!

Again, empathy would likely be a disadvantage to surgeons or therapists who know they have to be tough if the treatment is to be successful, and are trained to be pretty demanding of their clients for good reason.

Also there's a huge difference between autism where the person is purposefully doing their own thing and unaware of how others see them, and a psychopath who is attacking others and wants to make a negative impact! Be fair! Autism can be treated.

Answer 3

Empathy is the ability to put yourself in someone else's shoes... to feel what they might feel, to experience what they might experience. It's a way of understanding others by going beyond the surface of what we see to the possibilities of what they think or feel.

Autism is a disorder of the brain. This is something that cannot be helped, isn't caused by "environment" (though recently there is controversial evidence to the contrary), and, therefore, cannot be learned.

Sociopathy is largely caused by environment...or the lack of nurture. Most often there is a component of early childhood abuse and/or neglect. Therefore, this is a "learned" behavior. Theoretically, you should be able to teach a sociopath how to empathize, if you catch them early enough. But by the time they're teenagers, the psychological disorder is so embedded that it becomes "hardwired" into their brains and cannot be undone (so the theory goes). Therefore, empathy cannot be taught to them either.

But for the rest of us, empathy is learned. There are some people, of course, who are naturally more sensitive than others. For them, the ability to "walk in another's shoes" is much easier than for someone who isn't as sensitive by nature. But just because someone isn't "sensitive" doesn't mean they can't picture themselves in someone else's circumstances and relate their own experiences and feelings to them. It's learned.

Answer 4

Empathy is the capacity to understand other peoples' emotions, to put yourself in their place. Studies have shown it is not a learned behaviour. Even toddlers have it.

Answer 5

empathy is the ability to understand another's situation and emotions