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Sarah Slamans

Professor Davis

ENGL 1213

11 February 2021

The Importance of Empathy in Human Relationships

What exactly is empathy? Empathy is the ability to understand and share the feelings of

another. Empathy is important in human relationships because being aware of one’s emotions

and actions is just one of the many examples of showing compassion and everyone needs

compassion. One who empathizes for another human suffers along with them but not feeling the

sensation directly. Empathizing helps us better understand the needs of other humans. Portraying

empathy helps us figure out what exactly others need from us. Expressing this emotional

connection helps us treat others how we would want to be treated. This can be hard considering

social media in the present day. Technology today eliminates showing true empathy towards

another and limits that true connection as well. Understanding the thoughts and feelings of others

will gives us a decent sense on how we would want someone to understand what we are

struggling with. There are key elements that could always interfere with the way we contribute

empathy. The importance of Empathy is vital to forming long lasting relationships.

Whether it is our spouse, family member, friend, or coworker, empathy is very important when it

comes to lasting relationships. Forming these relationships takes compassion, sensitivity, and

consideration. All these are examples of very important qualities of empathy we should have in

our human relationships. If everyone in the world could share empathy with one another, the

world would truly be a better place. Seeing other points of views helps us understand what others
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are going through. Putting ourselves in other shoes can help us relate to each other and form

connections and then form relationships. Empathizing for another person allows for more

communication and connections. Showing empathy enables you to establish a rapport with

someone, making them feel that they are being heard. Being heard is meaningful to one another

because communication is another key for lasting relationships. Seeing another person’s problem

through their eyes can help better these connections. It is best for long lasting relationships to

grow and encourage empathy towards one another, in time passing along empathy to the next

should be a domino effect and the world could be a better place.

There are many ways to cultivate empathy, one way is to make caring for others a priority. Being

neighborly is a perfect example of cultivating empathy, the domino effect could spread

throughout the whole neighborhood it just has to start with us. “The embryo of good neighboring

is proactive friendliness” (Brotherton, 2013) meaning there must be a starting point. If we are the

reason that made one neighbor smile to another then this is the best outcome. It is not rocket

science, the starting point for cultivating empathy is showing facial expressions such as smiling.

We never know what others could be going through in their lifetime. It is possible that they could

be going through either the best or worst time in their life. Empathy lets others know that we

understand them by us showing compassion with just one smile. Going one step farther and

simply asking their name and listening to them could be maximal. In the modern age it can be

harder for the younger generation to do so. Showing empathy towards another human being in

person is very different than giving someone a “like” on social media thinking this is empathy.

The present-day social media trend is very upscale by being designed to appeal to affluent

consumers. Technology today eliminates showing true empathy towards another and limits that

true connection as well. Now more than ever generations turn to social media for support and to
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check on others. Showing compassion on social media such as Facebook or Instagram is very

technical and out of context than showing empathy in person. To give someone a “like” on

Facebook is different than to give someone a high five or a hug. Everyone can give out “likes” or

“kudos” on social media anytime they would like but can it be generally exchanged in person?

Technology today is an out for communication from one to another. We need to have face-to-

face interactions to build genuine relationships. A social media friend request would not be able

to start a genuine connection for a relationship. These genuine relations that we make with

another tend to have long lasting effects on our lives. Flashing a smile is much more impactful

then to hit the “like” button on a newfound friendship.

Empathy is important in human relationships because being aware of one’s emotions and actions

can show them compassion and can grow relationships and help us grow as a person as well.

Empathizing for another person allows for more communication and connections. When

portraying empathy, it helps us better understand what others are going through and how to deal

with current situations. Cultivating empathy is not hard and should be proceeded on a day-to-day

basis. The domino effect is an important role on how we show empathy towards one another, by

flashing a smile at another could make them smile and wave to another and so forth. Technology

also plays a role in the importance of empathy by not allowing us to show our full potential in

empathizing. It is very unlikely and hard to show true compassion through social media accounts

and for others to acknowledge and make true connections. There may be connections through

these sources, but it will not be the true connections we are looking for. Truly understanding

other thoughts and emotions will help us form long lasting connections that transform into long

lasting relationships. “When they cover a dead human or build a protective wall of sticks around

a wounded human, they’re showing an empathic acknowledgment of our shared destiny that
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we’d do well to learn. These, dear reductionists, are, as you would put it, the most parsimonious

hypotheses” (Foster, 2017). If elephants can show empathy to the fullest potential, so can we.
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Work Cited

Brotherton, M. (2013, May 23). On Being Neighborly. Retrieved February 06, 2021, from

https://www.artofmanliness.com/articles/on-being-neighborly/

Foster, C. (2017, January 19). If you were an elephant ... Retrieved February 06, 2021, from

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2017/jan/19/if-you-were-an-elephant-