How do you act when you see another person in pain? What about when children or animals suffer? Most of us will feel sad. We call empathy, the ability to put yourself in their shoes and feel their pain. But there is more than just one type of empathy and one of them is cognitive empathy.

Before I examine cognitive empathy, I would like to clarify the three different types of empathy.

3 types of empathy: affective, compassionate, and cognitive empathy

Emotional empathy

This is the definition of empathy we all know. All empathy is the ability to put oneself in another person’s shoes. Empathy is the ability to imagine what another person is feeling.

Emotional empathy is seeing this perspective from an emotional point of view. So we feel the grief and grief of others. We experience the same physical symptoms, mirror their feelings, and have the same feelings as them.

Nectar empathy

Affective empathy takes emotional empathy one step further. Adds an action element with passion. Along with the ability to feel the same feelings, there is a drive to do something.

For example, your friend comes to you feeling depressed, knowing that you previously suffered from depression. An emotional empath would know exactly what their friend was going through and feel their feelings. A kind person will take his friend to see a doctor.

Cognitive empathy

Finally, cognitive empathy is the ability to see another person’s perspective but more logically and analytically. Some people describe cognitive empathy as a kind of oxymoron.

This is because cognitive empathy can take emotion out of a situation, something we don’t associate with empathy. People with a highly developed sense of cognitive empathy can understand what a person is going through without emotional connotations.

So, to clarify:

Emotional empathy: is the connection with someone’s feelings.
Cognitive empathy: is understanding someone’s feelings.

Compassionate empathy: is the act of helping someone.
8 signs you have highly developed cognitive empathy
You are a good broker

Do you find that others naturally come to you to resolve a conflict or argument? Having a highly developed sense of cognitive empathy allows you to see both sides of an argument.

You are not emotionally attached to the people involved. Instead, you see beyond the emotion of a situation, can assess the facts and come to a fair decision for each party.

You are calm under pressure

Captain “Sully” Sullenberger is the airline pilot who crash-lands his doomed plane in the Hudson River after a bird strike destroys its two engines. I imagine he has a very developed sense of cognitive empathy.

In extreme stress, he reacted methodically and rationally. He analyzed the problem and worked through every possible scenario. He didn’t let the enormous emotional stress of saving the passengers affect his thinking.

You are a liberal thinker

Research shows that emotionally empathetic people tend to empathize more with people in their groups. For example, family, friends, political beliefs, nationalities, etc. However, this kind of thinking can lead to bias, as we do not place a high value on the lives of those who are not in our group.

On the other hand, those with a higher level of cognitive empathy understand that other people have different views, beliefs, values, and religions than themselves. This indicates a broader acceptance of groups that differ from their own.

You view

Perception simply means thinking. So, it stands to reason that if you can see someone else’s perspective logically, you will form opinions about the world.

As someone who can keep the emotions and drama out of a situation, you can focus on the facts.

For example, someone may be concerned about the increasing influx of refugees into their country. However, you could instead look for why the number of refugees increased in the first place. You might ask why people are fleeing, who is responsible for their flight, what can be done to help them, and how this will affect local resources.

You can predict how people will act

Studies have revealed the presence of mirror neurons in our brains that are activated in response to the emotions and feelings of others.

When we try and predict human behavior, we often base our predictions on what we would do in similar circumstances when we felt the same feelings.

Now, the interesting part is that highly cognitive empathic people can remove the emotional part. This makes them very effective at understanding how people act in certain situations.

People sometimes accuse you of being cold

You don’t break down every time an advertisement about starving children in Africa appears on TV. Likewise, sometimes you forget to comfort someone physically or emotionally when they are sad.

This is not because you are a bad person, it is more likely that your mind is working overtime to find a solution to its problem. This can be particularly useful for certain jobs.

For example, people living in refugee camps do not want others to feel their suffering, they want actual help to get out and live a better life.

You are a people watcher

Is one of your favorite pastimes people-watching? Do you like to sit with a coffee and watch the world go by? Those with highly attuned perceptual empathy tend to observe and watch people.

You might wonder or predict what kind of life these bystanders lead. But you don’t get emotionally attached to the people you have your eye on. You are completely clinical in your notes. Almost as if you were experimenting.

Don’t be afraid of confrontation

Expressing your opinions usually means that you don’t back down from arguments or debates. Again, don’t let emotion follow you. You cling to facts to enhance your side of things.

And don’t get angry. Instead, you try to use logic to convince someone and change them.