- Main Entry:
- em·pa·thy
- noun
- Etymology:
- Greek empatheia, from em- + pathos feelings, emotion — more at pathos
2: the action of understanding, being aware of, being sensitive to, and vicariously experiencing the feelings, thoughts, and experience of another of either the past or present without having the feelings, thoughts, and experience fully communicated in an objectively explicit manner ; also : the capacity for this. (source: Merriam-Webster)
The following sequence of examples identifies
some of the major factors in empathizing with another:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Empathy
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I sense that: - Frank is feeling annoyed, (via facial, vocal or postural expression).
- Frank is feeling annoyed due to not getting what he wants, (general object of emotion).
- Frank is feeling annoyed because he missed his train, (particular object of emotion)
- Frank is feeling annoyed because he missed his train, but only by a few seconds, (focus of particular object).
- Frank is feeling annoyed because he only just missed his train and he had an important meeting to get to, (background non-psychological context).
- Frank is feeling annoyed because he only just missed his train, and he had an important meeting and because he is generally an irritable sort of person (character traits). http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Empathy
