Talk:Sympathy

Comments

Edit: first example was incorrect and biased. A lustful serial killer is not feeling a victim's fear or pain, they are experiencing lust. Serial killers are not very empathic, if at all. See definition of psycopath.

Empathy (as used on this page as in the "but not" comments = Jungian extroverted feeling Sympathy = Jungian introverted feeling 24.22.227.53 07:01, 5 September 2005 (UTC)

This is not correct: "...It thus implies concern, or care or a wish to alleviate negative feelings others are experiencing."

the wish to alleviate negative feelings relates to 'Compassion' and maybe even 'Empathy', but not 'Sympathy'. Refer to most common dictionaries for the correct definition of Sympathy, there is NO implied 'wish to alleviate negative feelings others are experiencing' with Sympathy.

Sympathy relates to harmony and agreement of feelings, there are no inclinations or any implication towards alleviating the feelings others are experiencing. If this was the case, this would be showing or indicating a slight disharmony to them, and thus are incorrectly labled as sympathetic.

In some circles a lack of sympathy has adopted the slang expression of "pulling a Theresa". This is in no way referential to Mother Theresa.

sympathy- feeling after hearing or listening or observing what others do. empathy- feeling by pure perception.

'Crazy' Sympathy

(Warning: incredibly unscientific language ahead) In tv shows/movies/etc. sometimes you see one mentally ill person freak out in a mental hospital who will then set the other patients 'off' with their actions - in my mind, similar to a babys' sympathy crying. Is there a proper term for that, or will I have to use that complex description for the rest of my life?  :) --Anoma lee 13:15, 27 September 2006 (UTC)

That's why it's it's on Television. Sorry to sound trollish but I'm really not sure what sort of response you could have expected from this. You really shouldn't base your conception of unknown aspects on the fiction you're bombarded with on a regular basis. I'm sure this is something everyone does, including myself, very routinely. In any case, as far as I can tell the behavior you described may be true - this is based on some antecdotal evidence (another horrifically unscientific aspect, but maybe that's the appropriate response to an unscientific question) and what little I understand about the environments that exist in mental health facilities. In any case, I don't think that one schizophrenic may drive another any crazier than the "normal" population they interact with, not any more than that extent to which they'd be driven by the conversations with normal people that they may interpret as hostile alien entities. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 66.253.36.46 (talk) 04:56, 4 December 2007 (UTC)

Do we need this article

What we have is a dictionary definition, not an entry in an encyclopedia. I propose we move the content to Wiktionary and replace the article with a link. WLior 17:04, 22 September 2007 (UTC)

WikiProject class rating

This article was automatically assessed because at least one WikiProject had rated the article as start, and the rating on other projects was brought up to start class. BetacommandBot 04:28, 10 November 2007 (UTC)

what about the philosophy of sympathy?

That is what I clicked on the page to find out more about. There is the person who observes someone else's problems from a distance, someone who does not care, the person who helps but only to feel better about themselves. Even the Buddhists have opinions about sympathy. I think Susan Sontag, Foucault, and numerous others come at this from a philosophical perspective. This article could be amazing if someone took the time to do it. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Awesomeblossom420 (talk • contribs) 16:49, 22 April 2008 (UTC)

Not worldwide view?

I don't see why that should be tag up there. Remove? Aurora sword (talk) 14:28, 23 May 2008 (UTC)

Challenging the definition of empathy vs Sympathy

The sympathy definition here is, as noted above by BetacommandBot, not a much more than a dictionary definition.

Further, it is very confusing when compared to the definition of empathy: clear distinction between the two on any level (dictionary, philosophical, psychological, experiental) is not made, although such a difference is explicitly claimed.

Even more, the current definitions do not align very well with modern (western) definitions of sympathy (and empathy) from either dictionaries or psychological literature. I assume a similar problem with philosophical definitions.

Example:

Encarta English Dictionary (Microsoft, 2007):

1. Ability for sharing of of feelings: being able to understand, share or understand others' feelings

2. Feelings that are caused by sympathy (i.e. action of sympathy): what one feels when entering or sharing other person's feelings

3. Feeling alike - inclination to do so: inclination to feel/think like others

4. Agreement: harmony or agreement something/somebody

5. Loyalty/Allegiance: allegiance/loyalty to something/somebody

These multiple definitions are not captured here at Wikipedia nor are they capture in the Wiktionary.

Further, the psychological definition is not clear nor am I sure it is up-to-date.

Again quoting in paraphrased form, with meaning hopefully intact, from Encyclopedia of Psychology (APA, 2000):

Sympathy has varied definitions. Often the definition is:

Responding emotionally after understanding the emotions or condition of another person [note condition, in addition to emotion]. Thus it is a reaction to understanding, which can be followed by personal feelings of compassion, concern or other feelings toward that person towards which sympathy is directed. [Hence, it is NOT the same as living/feeling the emotions of other people. It is a personal emotive response to the condition/emotive state of others, after understanding this in the first place].

Thus, sympathy may be evoked by empathy, which in turn can be defined as mirroring - often intensively - the feeling of another person within oneself [that is feeling the same emotion - to the extent that is possible in the first place].

[Thus, empathy does not require understanding of other's emotional state (on an intellectual level), but merely experiencing itself emotionally and directly. Further, emotion does not include necessarily a concern or caring for what the other person is going through (a condition or emotive state)].

[Again, causally it is more likely to be :

empathy -> sympathy

However empathy does not need to exist before sympathy.

Then again, if a mirroring of other person's feelings happens, it is definitely empathy, not just sympathy. Further an intellectual orientation towards the needs of the person being sympathized/empathized with is again sympathy, not just pure empathy].

I think these definitions for sympathy and empathy, must both be clarified and made clearly distinct, both from dictionary and psychological literature point of view.

Otherwise just use Occam's razor: entities should not be multiplied unless necessary. Here however the need is clear, as the words are referring to clearly distinct psychological and experiental concepts.

Difficult to pick a user name (talk) 11:38, 14 October 2008 (UTC)

   == References ==

• Microsoft, (2007). Encarta English Dictionary, Microsoft
• Kazdin, Alan E. editor, (2000). Encyclopedia of Psychology, American Psychological Association.

I think if you look at the way that sympathy is defined in George Lowenstein's "The Scarecrow and the Tin Man: The Vicissitudes of Human Sympathy and Caring" using the 6 determinants, own personal State, Past and Various Experience, proximity, newness, and vividness can help to add to the definition and distinguish sympathy from empathy. Whitev74 (talk) 21:49, 8 February 2012 (UTC)

Merge with Empathic Concern?

It seems that article is more concise, in any case. 66.195.102.82 (talk) 22:49, 18 February 2011 (UTC)

Ok, but some things could be improved

This article as a stub is ok, but i would have moved the ethimology from the end to the beginning of the article. We should add something else, i found very useful the article of Lowenstein G. and Small D.(2007) The Scarecrow and the Tin Man: The vicissitudes of Human Sympathy and Caring. Review of General Psychology. This article provides a better explanation of the difference between sympathy and empathy, and also a view of how sympathy affects decision making. Maybe two more sections for these topics should be created. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Miolia (talk • contribs) 02:37, 8 February 2012 (UTC)

Determinants of Sympathy

An idea that could be interesting to add would be the numerous determinants of sympathy. Loewenstein and Small (2007) reference that sympathy is affected by the following situations and stimuli:

• Own Personal State; How much our own feeling state matches that of the individual we are reaching out to.
• Past and Vicarious Experience: If we have experienced something similar to the individual; if we have experienced the same or similar event before.
• Proximity: How close we are, weather in physical or emotional distances cause us to feel more for events or individuals closer to us.
• In-Group/Similarity/Nationality: How much of a connection we might have to the individual we are sympathizing with. For example, family members get more sympathy because of the shared bonds we have.
• Newness: The first time we are presented with information, we are more apt to react to it, rather than after being exposed numerous times.
• Vividness: How much of a visual description to we have?

Through these determinants, we as individuals to determine how much sympathy we give to a specific situation, perhaps more to some than to others.

Source: Loewenstein, G. & Small, D. A. (2007). The scarecrow and the tin man: The vicissitudes of human sympathy and caring. Review of General Psychology, 11, 112-126. doi: 10.1037/1089-2680.11.2.112

Leibelk (talk) 21:25, 8 February 2012 (UTC)

PLANNED REVISIONS

Plans for page revisions:
--Nguyen.M.T (talk) 16:05, 21 March 2012 (UTC) User:Nguyen.M.T/sandbox#SYMPATHY_TAKE_2

1. Revise the initial definition to incorporate a more psychological, operational definition

2. Add development of sympathy during childhood

3. Add how sympathy is generated/initiated and maintained (include neuroscience component)

4. Add how sympathy is communicated person to person

5. Add how sympathy influences human behavior

Potential Article Contributions

Hello! I came across several relevant articles during my research that could add to the current page.

HISTORY

ADD — Preceding unsigned comment added by Nguyen.M.T (talk • contribs) 16:35, 28 March 2012 (UTC)

DEVELOPMENT

Decety, J. & Michalska, K. J. (2010). Neurodevelopmental changes in the circuits underlying empathy and sympathy from childhood to adulthood. Developmental Science, 13(6), 886-899. doi: 10.1111/j.1467-7687.2009.00940.
This piece will help contribute to a section based on the neuroscience of sympathy, such as the brain areas that are active when a person is concerned about another person's well-being. The amygdala, motor regions, and sections of the insula are each shown to be active during sympathy, based on this study. Additionally, this article provides information regarding sympathy's lifespan development. Theory of mind as well as emotion regulation are associated with the development of sympathy.

INITIATION & MAINTENANCE

Dickert, S. & Slovic, P. (2009). Attentional mechanisms in the generation of sympathy. Judgment and Decision Making, 4(4), 297-306.
This paper was the first I found to acknowledge more simple, perceptual mechanisms that play a part in sympathy. The authors noted that attention can be used to moderate emotion as well as allow more complex processing. They highlight the role of being able to create mental images and to take on outside perspectives on the production of sympathy. This paper would fit best in the section where I hope to discuss how sympathy is initiated and sustained.

Dijker, A. J. M. (2010). Perceived vulnerability as a common basis of moral emotions. British Journal of Social Psychology, 49, 415-423.
This article presents an interesting perspective on sympathy, as well as all other empathic emotions. The role of perceived vulnerability for individuals is integral to their argument that empathic emotions stem from a desire to be good parents. As they note, humans carry over their evolutionary tendency to care for their vulnerable young to other spheres of their lives. This article will contribute to the section regarding the initiation of sympathy.

Harth, N. S., Kessler, T. & Leach, C. W. (2008). Advantaged group’s emotional reactions to intergroup inequality: The dynamics of pride, guilt, and sympathy. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 34(1), 115-129. doi:10.1177/0146167207309193.

This article focuses on the role of in-group and out-group distinctions on the initiation of sympathy and charitable behavior. There is also an analysis of how sympathy relates to the legitimacy of the conditions of the situation. Framing also plays a role in this as in-group status can change depending on what group is being scrutinized. The behavioral tendencies elucidated in this article will help to create a section on the initiation of sympathy.

Irwin, K., McGrimmon, T. & Simpson, B. (2008). Sympathy and social order. Social Psychology Quarterly, 71(4), 379-397.
As the title suggests, this piece highlights the role of sympathy in maintaining social order and would fit into the section about the role of sympathy in human behavior. The authors highlight two specific determinants in a person delivering sympathy to others. The first determinant revolved around the idea that in order to feel sympathy, a person must feel like they are in an interdependent relationship with the other person(s). This is a self-satisfying mechanism. The second determinant is individual characteristics; the researchers determined that trust and good values play into feelings of sympathy and cooperation.

Lishner, D. A., Batson, C. D. & Huss, E. (2011). Tenderness and sympathy: Distinct empathic emotions elicited by different forms of need. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 37(5), 614-625. doi: 10.1177/0146167211403157.

Lishner and colleagues analyze different responses to people in need. They highlight the idea that different needs elicit differential 'empathic emotions.' Need and vulnerability represent two human states in which people can expect attention, sympathy and tenderness respectively. These authors also suggest that there is an inherent paternal aspect to sympathy that in turn helps drive empathic emotions. This article would be appropriate in the section that helps define sympathy as well as the one discussing how sympathy comes about.

NEW
Decety, J. & Chaminade. (2003). Neural correlates of feeling sympathy. Neuropsychologia, 41, 127-138.
This article provides a neurscientific perspective on the initiation and feeling of sympathy. Using a paradigm that involves interaction between people, researchers were able to analyze the neural activity occurring when sympathy is experienced. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Nguyen.M.T (talk • contribs) 15:53, 21 March 2012 (UTC)

BEHAVIOR

Dickert, S., Sagara, N. & Slovic, P. (2011). Affective motivations to help others: A two-stage model of donation decisions. Journal of Behavioral Decision Making, 24, 361-376. doi: 10.1002/bdm.697.

The authors present research that is very similar to the Slovic article we read in class, because it highlights the interplay between System 1 and System 2, the head and the gut. It relates the role of emotions in decision making, with a focus on charitable behavior. Within this research, the authors make a distinction within charitable activity: the choice to donate and then the choice of how much or how little to donate. Authors suggest that different affective motivations fuel these two choices.

Loewenstein, G. & Small, D. A. (2007). The scarecrow and the tin man: The vicissitudes of human sympathy and caring. Review of General Psychology, 11(2), 112-126. doi: 10.1037/1089-2680.11.2.112.

This article discusses how human sympathy and caring are determined based on some specific categories of thought. For example, proximity to a person or event will often help to induce sympathy. Deservingness was also calculated in this study and played into the degree of donations received by people and organizations. This will become an integral piece in the section about how sympathy comes about.

Small, D. A., Lowenstein, G. & Slovic, P. (2007). Sympathy and callousness: The impact of deliberative thought on donations to identifiable and statistical victims. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 102(2), 143-153. doi:10.1016/j.obhdp.2006.01.005

This study was based on the relationship between sympathy on charitable behavior. However, it noticed that providing more information, such as teaching people to see through popular marketing schemes or providing more data, reduced giving. The more information that was provided, the less people donated. This is an interesting finding, because one might believe that more accurate information available for a worthy cause would enhance the amount of giving. I would like to include this information in a section involving the behavioral implications of sympathy, specifically in giving aid and donations.

COMMUNICATION

NEW
DePaulo, B. M. (1992). Nonverbal behavior and self-presentation. Psychological Bulletin, 111(2), 203-243.
There is an interesting point in this article which posits that nonverbal communication cues are often subconscious and uncontrollable. DePaulo also notes that nonverbal emotions can actually be better understood by people observing the gesture, not the person experiencing them first hand.

Hertenstein, M. J., Holmes, R., McCullough, M. & Keltner, D. (2009). The communication of emotion via touch. Emotion, 9(4), 566-573. doi: 10.1037/a0016108.
Authors describe the exact physical areas on the human body where touch is best conveyed for different emotions, such as happiness and sympathy. They take into account the duration of an effective communication of affect. They also note sex differences. This is an excellent addition to the section describing the communication of sympathy.

Hertenstein, M. J. & Keltner, D. (2011). Gender and the communication of emotion via touch. Sex Roles, 64, 70-80. doi: 10.1007/s11199-010-9842-y.
This was an interesting article because it was the only one I found that specifically discusses the communication of sympathy between humans. Although it highlights the role of touch in communicating emotions, it briefly mentions the role of facial expression and voice intonation in communicating emotions. It also highlights the sex differences in the communication of emotions. Generally speaking, women are more successful in communicating with others via touch. I would like to include this in a section about how people convey sympathy. I would like to do more research about facial expression and intonation.

NEW
Wang, R. & Quek, F. (2010). Touch & talk: Contextualizing remote touch for affective interaction. Proceedings of the fourth international conference on Tangible, embedded, and embodied interaction, 13-20.
This article is very useful in examining the role of touch in conveying emotions. It discusses how touch, when the context is known, can act as an immediate communication path for emotions.

OTHER/DEFINITION HELP

Gerdes, K. E. (2011). Empathy, sympathy, and pity: 21st-century definitions and implications for practice and research. Journal of Social Service Research, 37(3), 230-241.
Waiting to receive from ILL.

Van Der Weele, C. (2011). Empathy’s purity, sympathy’s complexities; De waal, darwin, and adam smith. Biological Philosophy, 26(4), 583-593. doi:10.1007/s10539-011-9248-4.

This piece examines the philosophy of morality, which composes the roots of empathy and sympathy. Frans de Waal and Charles Darwin have both posited views on the role of sympathy in moral judgment. This will be an important piece for introducing sympathy more broadly. This paper also demonstrates how sympathy can also be selfish, as people often seek sympathy during social interactions as much as they give it.

NEW
Wispe, L. (1986). The distinction between sympathy and empathy: To call forth a concept a word is needed. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 50(2), 314-321.
Wispe helps to provide a psychological definition of sympathy in the context of definitions from other fields of knowledge and research.

SYMPATHY, POLITICS, AND THE LAW

NEW
Feigenson, N. R. (1997). Sympathy and legal judgement: A psychological analysis. Tennessee Law Review

I nominated this article for DYN status:

--Nguyen.M.T (talk) 16:54, 4 April 2012 (UTC)

Original version

Σ- Hello there! I have returned the page to the original version I posted. I feel as though the current page is more substantive, but I am happy to fix things if you tell me what should be changed in terms of format. I ask you to please not revert the page without a more detailed explanation so that I can fix it. For example, what specifically should be changed to make the article less essay-like? In terms of the TOC, I tried to incorporate all important knowledge regarding sympathy in a format that first provided general information and then was divided in a way that let individuals access sections that they might be interested in. Any help would be greatly appreciated. --Nguyen.M.T (talk) 03:37, 1 May 2012 (UTC)

King's University College

Hi Everyone, my name is Kelsey and I will be editing this article as a part of my Child Development course at King's University College. Kkongas (talk) 01:37, 20 September 2012 (UTC)
Hello, I am Anisha and I have also decided to edit this article for Psych 2410A at King’s 2012 EnlightenMe0 (talk) 14:25, 20 September 2012 (UTC)

Welcome to the both of you! Lova Falk talk 17:32, 21 September 2012 (UTC)

Planned Revisions

Hello there, Anisha EnlightenMe0 (talk) 13:55, 4 October 2012 (UTC) again. Here is the list of proposals I would like to do to improve this article for my Child Development course at King's University College:

1. Introduce Empirical Study Nancy Eisenberg, R. A. (1989). Relation of Sympathy and Personal Distress to Prosocial Behavior: A Multimethod Study. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 55-64.

2. Add a Section to the article: "Facial and Physiological Arousal"

3. Expand/ elaborate on the "Child Development” section. EnlightenMe0 (talk) 13:55, 4 October 2012 (UTC)

Good Morning, my planned revisions for Sympathy are as follows:

1. Introduce Buchmann, Marlis, Michaela Gummerum, Monika Keller, and Tina Malti. "Children's Moral Motivation, Sympathy, and Prosocial Behavior." Child Development 80.2 Apr. (2009): 442-60.

2. Create sub-headings for Child Development.

3. Create more citations throughout article.

4. Remove or incorporate unused references.

5. General grammatical revisions.

6. Expand upon Child Development. Kkongas (talk) 15:40, 4 October 2012 (UTC)

Wikipedia Ambassador Program course assignment

This article is the subject of an educational assignment at King's University College supported by the Wikipedia Ambassador Program during the 2012 Q3 term. Further details are available on the course page.

The above message was substituted from {{WAP assignment}} by PrimeBOT (talk) on 15:56, 2 January 2023 (UTC)

Wiki Education assignment: Adult Development Winter 2023

This article was the subject of a Wiki Education Foundation-supported course assignment, between 4 January 2023 and 3 April 2023. Further details are available on the course page. Student editor(s): Amandaebullard (article contribs).

— Assignment last updated by Amandaebullard (talk) 20:36, 13 March 2023 (UTC)