Empathy and Sympathy

by Valtteri Wikström

A common question seems to be what exactly is the difference between empathy and sympathy. There is no straightforward answer, as they are both complex concepts, dealing with closely related subjects, that can be defined in various ways. That said, I will try to approach this question from the point of view of how the terms are commonly used in different contexts.

In everyday speech, empathy and sympathy are often used almost interchangeably. When we say that we are feeling sympathy or empathy towards another person, we often mean very similar things. This is probably why their difference often causes confusion. In this way, they could be considered almost synonymous, but let's look for examples where I think that their use is not interchangeable.

Let's think of a movie character, and describe them as either empathic or sympathetic. If we describe the character as empathic, it means that we think that they are good at connecting with other people, caring for others, being strongly moved by other characters' emotions, and feeling what the other characters are feeling. On the other hand, if we describe a character as sympathetic, it means that we consider the character easy to relate to, that we understand what the character is feeling, that we care for the character, their hardships and their successes, and we are probably rooting for the sympathetic character. In this way, empathy could be considered more outward-directed, as a trait which is related to how the empathic person perceives others, whereas sympathy is related to how the person is perceived by others. An empathic person can easily feel what others are feeling, while a sympathetic person is a person whose feelings are easy for others to feel.

We can also describe someone as sympathetic towards a point of view, proposal, policy, or suggestion. In this case, the person probably agrees with and supports the suggested course of action, or at least indicates that they do. On the other hand, empathising with a certain point of view or suggestion would seem to indicate that the person makes an effort to understand where the suggestion is coming from, but it does not necessarily mean that they either agree or disagree with it. This would suggest, that empathy is a more general ability and a tool for understanding, whereas sympathy is actively tied to values, opinions, and attitudes.

I would say that sympathy is more often expressed, whereas empathy is primarily experienced. This means that sympathy is more active, an acknowledgement of the other persons situation and emotion, usually involving an action, or a verbal expression of support. Empathy on the other hand is a feeling of deeply understanding the other person, their feelings and intentions, either on an emotional or cognitive level. Of course feelings are deeply tied with expression, but more involuntarily and immediately. Therefore the expression of empathy can even be a facial microexpression, a tendency to synchronise to the target, a tone of voice, or a gesture, whereas the expression of sympathy is more likely to be a verbal encouragement, acknowledgement, or a more complex action.

Just because I can't help myself from opening another can of semantic worms, I will make a final conjecture: Perhaps, when the experience of empathy and the expression of sympathy are combined, the end result is compassion.