Can an empath tell when someone is being emotionally fake?

Answer 1

I consider myself an empath and I can definitely tell when someone is being fake in any respect, so yes...

Answer 2

Some people are very good at reading body language, but on Yahoo! Answers, what good is body language? There are, however, certain cliched phrases that raise alarm bells here. That wouldn't so much equate to empathy though, as it would perhaps to pattern recognition and analysis. It is sometimes possible to tell fakery through the observation of a person's actions and words to determine consistency. I'm often fairly good at telling in person, but a lot of times I think *I* come off as fake too, just because I don't have many social skills. For this reason, I cut the fakers some slack. If I look fake and know I am not, how can I judge another to be fake from affect? I take the words and judge by actions and expressed and perceived intentions. I wouldn't call myself an empath, though, as I have too much mental interference from my own silly self. Trying to get rid of that...

P.S. To Jon, you're right about no word "empath" in the dictionary, at least on dictionary.com where I looked. My first encounter with the word was the title of an old Star Trek episode entitled simply "The Empath." It was about a mute woman who communicated through apparent telepathy, but she took the emotional and stress elements from those she encountered, thus healing them. It eventually killed her. An interesting twist of the story of self-sacrifice. That's my understanding of the concept of "empath." Not just someone who picks up emotion but who can draw it away. I guess much of my early philosophy was Star Trek-induced!

Answer 3

You do not need to be an "empath" (I think way too many people grew up watching Star Trek) to do this.

You can tell by observing a person's eye movement and respiration if they are being fake. Watch their body language, do they make eye contact or turn away, do they breathe faster? Generally, people will carry a higher pitch in their speaking if they are lying as well.

If you are intimate with this person, what you need to watch for is the physical contact. Do they touch you a lot or is it minimal? Do they pat you on the hand or back when they should hug you?

Use your intuition. You do not need to possess special abilities to do this. Basically, it's common sense.

Answer 4

Yes, and that's coming from an empath.

Let me give you a recent example. There was a person answering questions here on YA, a beautiful and spiritual young woman. She had many friends and admirers. She was among my contacts too and asked to be a *friend* on Y 360. Regradless of her excellent answers, I somehow I didn't want to have much to do with her. Then suddenly it came out that she's been diagnosed with a terminal illness and will have a very short time to live. You can understand how devastated her online friends were. As for me, my first impression was: I don't believe it. Then guilt struck: how can I be so jaded, so tainted as to think like that? How can I not trust? So I made myself believe and went along with all the hoopla: encouraging messages, sending of huge amounts of love and hugs. Still, an uneasy feeling persisted. Until, one fine day, it comes out that the young woman is really a not-so-young man who is in good physical (although probably not mental!) health. An online "player".

As a result of that experience, that's what I said to myself: always trust your gut feeling regardless of what you may think is "nice" or "right".

PS: To Jon C. I am not acquainted with the tv show you referred to but I am somewhat acquainted with myself. I am 47 years old and have been living with empathy since childhood. I can assure you: it is not something out of a tv show, some people just are this way. I could elaborate but I hardly think it is appropriate here.

Answer 5

Yes, it shows in the persons aura and empaths can definitely pick up on the emotions the person is truly feeling if a person if being outwardly fake.

Answer 6

Yes and empath can definitely do that, but so can a person who can read body language very well (the empath does it faster and better though).

Answer 7

Oh, yes! And you don't have to be an empath to tell. Harder when not person to person, of course. I don't know about others, but I can usually tune in to someone's actual problem and feelings. Many a time I've been told, 'thanks for feeling my pain'- emotionally and physically. And for me, God gets all the glory.

Answer 8

Theoretically, a good empath (if they even exist) would be the best lie detector in the world- providing of course that the person they were reading didn't have an iron clad control over their emotional responses.

Answer 9

I personally don't like the term empath, but some of us are really intuitive, especially to those we are emotionally close to. I can read the important people in my life pretty well if it doesn't have anything to do with me. If I'm involved though my own fears and "wishes" get in the way.
Most people have "empathic" talents. It's your gut feeling. The problem is most people just don't listen to it anymore. It's rude, or that's judgemental, etc. If you start to listen to it though, you'll start to pick up on stuff yourself. You can listen to your gut and tread carefully. You don't have to be rude to be cautious.

Answer 10

I don't think that, outside of the TV show 'Heroes', there is such a thing as an empath. Certainly not in my dictionary.

I'm fairly sensitive to such things when I'm actually with someone. Not so sure over a distance.

With regard to Meerkat's reference, I'm not sure whether that particular case was a matter of emotional fake or mental fracture - I suspect it was the latter - but I don't know.

Mental states and emotions are rarely plain and simple and trying to trying to get inside someone else's state of mind is perhaps possible but not lightly to be undertaken.

EDIT,
Meerkat, I don't doubt your sensitivity and obvious accuracy. I just don't like our language being interfered with by a television show - entertaining though it be.

Another Edit.
Meerkat, It's not the reality nor the depth of empathy in general or yours in particular which I challenge. How could I? It' the use of the word 'empath', which, as far as I or my dictionary are aware, doesn't exist.
I am, after all, an acknowledged pedant.