Empathy is the ability to understand and sympathize with another person’s experience. It is demonstrated through communicating and interacting with others in ways that show caring and shared understanding. Empathy is an important social skill for children to learn because it can help them build strong relationships with others across the lifespan.

An awareness of another person’s perspective is a key characteristic of empathy and is crucial to whether disagreements occur and whether a resolution can be achieved. In conflict situations, people tend to focus on how they have been wronged or hurt, often fueling an escalation of the situation. Engaging in an empathetic way shifts the focus and tone of the situation by communicating care for the other person. Empathy is associated with less aggressive behaviors.

With this shift, conflict may be quickly averted when a person understands another person’s different needs and viewpoints, confusion, or miscommunication. Empathy can also support working through a problem to find a mutually satisfying compromise or outcome. In this case, empathetic skills like sincerely listening and expressing understanding help diffuse the conflict and communicate

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