What is the difference between empathy and sympathy?

Empathy and sympathy are two words that are often used interchangeably, but they have different meanings.

Empathy is the ability to understand and share the feelings of others. When you feel empathy, you are able to put yourself in someone else's shoes and experience their emotions from their perspective. Empathy involves a deep level of understanding and can be both emotional and intellectual.

Sympathy, on the other hand, is the feeling of sorrow or pity for someone else's misfortune. When you feel sympathy, you are acknowledging someone else's pain or suffering, but you are not necessarily experiencing those emotions yourself. Sympathy is often a more superficial or surface-level response than empathy.

To illustrate the difference between empathy and sympathy, imagine that a friend has lost a loved one. If you feel empathy for your friend, you would try to understand their feelings of grief and sadness and share in their sorrow. If you feel sympathy for your friend, you would express your condolences and offer support, but you may not fully understand the depth of their emotions.

In summary, empathy involves understanding and sharing the emotions of others, while sympathy involves acknowledging someone else's emotions and expressing support or condolences.