Question

Compare and contrast.

Sympathy - Empathy

Answer 1

Sympathy is expressed when a person is emotionally moved by the pain or distress of another person. We feel sorry for that person for their grief or failure or misfortune for e.g., we feel sympathy for victims of a terrorist attack.
Empathy means to feel the same emotions as someone in distress, to imagine ourself in his/her position, and experience all the sensations involved in that position. It is a more intense and higher-level emotion than sympathy. It involves putting yourself in someone else's place and experiencing their pain or grief. It involves being sensitive to and accepting of the feelings and experiences of another as if it was our own feeling or experience.