When SOMEONE Lacks Empathy, It Can Have Catastrophic Consequences! See for Yourself!
When it comes to emotions, everyone shows them in their own personal way. But what if someone has a hard time dealing with emotions, not only with their own, but also with other people's feelings? The truth is that not everyone is equally empathic, and there are even people who lack this ability altogether. This can lead to behaviors that are difficult for most people to understand and can be a major detriment in social life. But how can we recognize someone who lacks empathy? In this article, we'll introduce you to nine signs.
1. First-person empathy
Empathy is what we call the ability to put ourselves in the other person's shoes and understand what others' feelings and thoughts are, and how situations or even our own actions affect them. It's about not seeing things objectively and coldly, but seeing them as the other person experiences them. A person's individual situation, subjectivity, context and personal circumstances must be taken into account. Something that is common to all people who lack empathy is egocentrism. You see everything from your point of view, consider it the only valid one, and do not consider the validity of others. Selfishness can also occur. The only or most important thing a person wants is to defend their rights or achieve their goals. Although it’s not always the case, it is common for people who lack empathy to develop some degree of Nazism, considering themselves superior or more valuable than others and putting their needs above the rights of others.
2. Feeding false rumors
False rumors can be very hurtful because they call into question someone's personal or private life. Sharing information about another person out of curiosity or jealousy is tantamount to exploitation. A rumor creates a false reflection: Everyone looks at the person on whom the rumor is unleashed to find out what others think about their weaknesses or faults. This only satisfies a childish egoism that degrades the image of the other and the autonomy of the self.
3. Lack of sensitivity
There can be many causes for a lack of empathy, from the deprivation of affection in childhood, to the experience of physical and psychological abuse, to various neurological, developmental or psychological diseases and problems. It is important to keep in mind that each person has his or her own abilities and empathy may be more or less pronounced in each of us, but the complete absence of empathy is rare and usually occurs with various disorders. Someone who has little or no empathy will stand out in contact with others primarily because of indifferent communication. For example, an empathy-less person will want to get down to business quickly, which means they often disregard polite etiquette and even become tactless in conversation. But beware - people without empathy do not always exhibit this character trait. Because even though this is a characteristic sign of a callous person, many such people can feign empathy by intentionally being polite and friendly to others.
4. Superficial and destructive relationships
Something that most people with a lack of empathy have in common is that they are unable to recognize the emotions and thoughts of others as something valuable or interesting, and they are unable to empathize with them. Therefore, such people generally maintain superficial and shallow relationships.
5. Questionable behaviors
People with a great lack of empathy tend to use other people as a resource to achieve their goals. The fact that they are unable to empathize with the other person leads them to devalue and objectify the other person and use them either directly or indirectly to achieve personal goals without regard for their feelings
6. Aggression and violence
Although not all people who lack empathy become violent, for example, people with autism have problems with empathy and are not usually violent, the lack of empathy makes it easier to resort to aggressive or even violent problem-solving styles because there is no awareness of what it means to the other person or the suffering it can cause.
7. Lack of remorse
Doing something that hurts others causes remorse in most people. However, in people who lack empathy, remorse is absent or much lower than usual, although they may apologize when they have the realization that others have suffered or when it serves their purposes. Emotions are an internal process. It is tempting to point the finger at the actions of others to justify one's own emotional state. But it shows empathy and, most importantly, maturity to take responsibility, even if that means not representing your own needs for a moment.
8. Focusing on yourself
This is a trait that often goes unnoticed because it's so common in a counseling session. So when someone tells you about a problem, a person without empathy responds by explaining how they solved a similar problem. Similarly, when someone is having trouble getting something done, many respond by talking about the qualities they have shown in similar situations. This is a clear sign of a lack of empathy. Empathy means seeing situations from the other person's point of view, not your own.
9. Having prejudices
Nothing is more foreign to empathy than stereotypes. This tendency to generalize and simplify the traits of others shows very well that someone is incapable of seeing the other person as they really are. A similar mechanism operates with prejudice. Generalizations that lack in evidence are maintained only by lack of knowledge or reflection. But empathy requires being open to the world of the other, rather than being stuck on prejudice.
Today’s Conclusion:
Lack of empathy is a major obstacle to harmonious relationships with others, but also with oneself. Interaction with others also shows us a lot about ourselves. The fact that someone has difficulty understanding others indicates that they probably do not fully understand their own feelings. So if you've been told a time or two that you're not empathetic, you might want to take a closer look at yourself. This is especially true if this accusation comes from an honest person, because then you can be sure that she is not saying this just to hurt you, or because she may not have anything better to say at the moment, but rather to make you reflect. Often, a person without empathy can come close to gaining empathy once they learn how to deal with their own feelings. But for that to happen, it's important to know exactly what you want in life and what feelings might be driving us to act the way we do. That's it for today.