Cognitive Empathy In Research

Empathy is a trait which seemed to have had gained more and more attention from researchers in the last two decades. Some researchers define the trait as being “the ability to sense other people’s emotions”, the ability to “imagine what someone else might be thinking or feeling” (Paul Ekman, 2010). Modern researchers identify two types of empathy: Affective Empathy (physical and emotional reaction to others’ emotions) and Cognitive Empathy (ability to understand others’ emotions). The conception that people can absorb others’ pain or joy and share similar physiological and psychological reactions, inspired different researchers to study the relation between empathy and physiology. People with a high affective empathy tend to cry during a sad