Empathy vs. Sympathy: What Is the Difference?

Is that “empathy” or “sympathy” you're showing? While the two words are often incorrectly used interchangeably, the difference in their emotional impact is important. Empathy, as the ability to actually feel what another person is feeling — literally “walk a mile in their shoes” — goes beyond sympathy, a simple expression of concern for another person’s misfortune. Taken to extremes, deep or extended feelings of empathy can actually be harmful to one’s emotional health.
Sympathy

Sympathy is a feeling and expression of concern for someone, often accompanied by a wish for them to be happier or better off. “Oh dear, I hope the chemo helps.” In general, sympathy implies a deeper, more personal, level of concern than pity, a simple expression of sorrow.

However, unlike empathy, sympathy does not imply that one’s feelings for another are based on shared experiences or emotions.
Empathy

As a translation into English of the German word Einfühlung — “feeling into” — made by psychologist Edward Titchener in 1909, “empathy” is the ability to recognize and share another person’s emotions.

Empathy requires the ability to recognize the suffering of another person from their point of view and to openly share their emotions, including painful distress.

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