Empathy

Cognitive empathy. Also known as perspective-taking, this type of empathy refers to our ability to understand the other person’s perspective and identify the right way to react to their emotions.

Affective empathy. This refers to how we feel in response to another person’s emotions. For example, if a friend is anxious before a major event, we can mirror that anxiety.

Compassionate empathy. This type of empathy combines cognitive and affective empathy and makes you want to help the person in emotional distress.