The Power of Empathy in Relationships
Empathy is often referred to as the cornerstone of meaningful human connections. This complex ability allows us to perceive and relate to the thoughts, emotions, and experiences of others, fostering deep understanding and cooperation. Empathy's influence spans various types of relationships, from romantic partnerships to professional interactions. This article explores how empathy builds and enhances relationships by delving into its definition, types, and practical strategies for development.

Defining Empathy and Its Types

To help teach empathy, critical thinking and teamwork to future physicians, Mercer University School of Medicine professors turn to art. 

All third-year medical students at Mercer participate in visualization training as part of the School of Medicine’s medical humanities curriculum. For the training, students visit an art gallery or exhibit, and an art historian leads them through observing and analyzing art both independently and together. 

“What we hope that it does is sharpen the students’ visual observations of their patients,” said Dr. Brian Childs, professor and chair of the Department of Bioethics and Medical Humanities in the School of Medicine. “Rather than just looking at lab results or looking at radiographs, you look at people.” 

Musk said 'The fundamental weakness of Western civilization is empathy.' Here's his full quote
 

by   Ryan Modjeski

*Elon Musk recently claimed empathy was "the fundamental weakness of Western civilization." And he's not alone in this thinking.

*Elon Musk recently claimed empathy was "the fundamental weakness of Western civilization." And he's not alone in this thinking. Some religious leaders have recently gone even further, explicitly labeling empathy as "sin".

*The Empathy Framework offers a better understanding: true empathy is a balanced system connecting with yourself, with others and the world—leading to stronger individuals, communities, and nations.

In a conversation with Joe Rogan, Musk described what he calls "suicidal empathy" - the notion that excessive empathy leads to self-destructive outcomes. Controversial theologian Joe Rigney, who often describes Empathy as a “sin,” illustrated a similar concern when he recently stated:

"Empathy is the sort of thing that you've got someone drowning, or they're in quicksand, and they're sinking. And what empathy wants to do is jump into the quicksand with them, both feet... Problem is you're both now sinking.”

Simmons in-house counsel survey seeks to understand what legal profession will look like in 10 years

She argues that empathy, while it may provoke a reaction, too often remains a personal response that fails to translate into political commitment or concrete actions. She calls this the ‘trap of empathy’ – a dynamic that subtly shifts the burden of responsibility from society to the victims themselves. In the West, D’Souza argues, spectators of atrocities expect victims to perform their trauma to raise awareness, basically forcing them to make a spectacle of their pain so that others might understand or even feel. Instead of receiving the immediate solidarity they need, they must beg for sympathy.

What causes some people to stand in solidarity with those from other races, religions, or nationalities, even when that solidarity does not seem to benefit the individual or their group? Seeing Us in Them examines outgroup empathy as a powerful predisposition in politics that pushes individuals to see past social divisions and work together in complex, multicultural societies.

It also reveals racial/ethnic intergroup differences in this predisposition, rooted in early patterns of socialization and collective memory. Outgroup empathy explains why African Americans vehemently oppose the border wall and profiling of Arabs, why Latinos are welcoming of Syrian refugees and support humanitarian assistance, why some white Americans march in support of Black Lives Matter through a pandemic, and even why many British citizens oppose Brexit.

Outgroup empathy is not naïve; rather it is a rational and necessary force that helps build trust and maintain stable democratic norms of compromise and reciprocity.

In response to the insightful cover story, “‘A potent medicine’: In matters of pain and trust, empathy may make all the difference,” published in the Healio Rheumatology January 2025 issue, I would like to highlight the key data on empathy.

First, research over the past 25 years has shown that both the cognitive and affective empathy of most allopathic and osteopathic students declines as they progress through their undergraduate medical education, with declines on the osteopathic side less pronounced than those seen among allopathic students.

A common theme was the importance of empathy between science communicators and the public.

“The idea that disagreement is often seen as disrespect is insightful,” said MIT’s Ford Professor of Political Science Lily Tsai. “One way to communicate respect is genuine curiosity along with the willingness to change one’s mind. We’re often focused on the facts and evidence and saying, ‘Don’t you understand the facts?’ But the ideal conversation is more like, ‘You value ‘x.’ Tell me why you value ‘x’ and let’s see if we can connect on how the science and research helps you to fulfill those values, even if I don’t agree with them.’”

Empathy for pain refers to a simulation of pain experiences evoked when seeing others in pain. Empathy for pain (vicarious pain) responders make up 27% of the healthy population, and are divided into two subsets: Sensory/Localized responders who feel localized physical pain and Affective/General responders who experience diffuse emotional pain. Empathy for pain is linked to pro-social behavior but can increase mental health symptoms.

Empathy is the ability to imagine yourself in someone else’s circumstances. That seems to me to be what Jesus is saying when he says to love others as much as you do yourself and to treat them like you would like to be treated. His statements are, among other things, admonitions against prejudice and judgment without facts. He also says those premises are the very basis of his teachings and explain the meanings of the lessons in the Old Testament.

A lot of the same people cheering the deportations are the ones claiming that the United States is a Christian nation. If empathy is a core tenet of Christianity, and that sure sounds like what Jesus is saying, and the United States is a Christian nation, then those Christians applauding Trump for treating innocent people like hardened criminals should probably get themselves to the nearest church and ask forgiveness. They sure aren’t acting very Christian.

Now, the richest man in the world, the shadow president of America, Elon Musk, has laid bare his philosophy, on of all places, the Joe Rogan show: “The fundamental weakness of Western civilization is empathy.” And as if that wasn’t bloodcurdling enough, he doubled down: “Like it’s weaponized. Empathy is the issue.”

This is no longer about whether certain factions make Nazi salutes. It’s not just about tax policy or weaponizing xenophobia. This is about something far deeper—the very essence of what it means to be human. These far-right zealots aren’t merely looking to dismantle government; they are attempting to strip governance of its soul. They seek to erase human agency and emotion from the framework of civilization itself.

The American psychologist G. M. Gilbert, who observed high-ranking Nazis during the Nuremberg trials, once wrote, “I was searching for the nature of evil. I think I’ve come close to defining it: a lack of empathy… A genuine incapacity to feel with their fellow man. Evil, I think, is the absence of empathy.”

by Hope Kerrigan

In times of intense division, we must not forget the power of empathy.

Earlier this month, Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla and SpaceX and senior advisor to the President of the United States was quoted saying, “The fundamental weakness of Western civilization is empathy,” arguing that the political left is, “exploiting a bug… which is the empathy response.” Empathy, or the ability to understand and share in the feelings of those around you, has not been — and never will be — a radical idea.

In recent years, the decline of empathy has become abundantly clear in many facets of life, whether it be politics, economics, corporate greed, or just the general public. Musk argues that empathy has become “weaponized;” and that empathy is a “bug” that results in “civilizational suicide.” This language serves to desensitize us. Delegitimizing empathy encourages us to turn a blind eye to the suffering of fellow humans; delegitimizing empathy in politics paints a far more sinister picture. When those in power begin to suggest that empathy is a dysfunction of society rather than a strength, this cultural shift in values is further emphasized. 

By Jim Powers
I don’t mean for this to come across as a sermon, as it probably does. But we need to talk about a dangerous and deeply unchristian idea that is making its way through certain evangelical circles. Several prominent figures within conservative evangelical circles are telling their followers that empathy is a sin. They claim that feeling another person’s pain too deeply can lead us away from biblical truth, that it clouds moral clarity, and that it makes it easier to justify sin.

This strange view is a complete perversion of what Jesus taught us. It reads more like a justification of Trumpism than serious theological reflection. It seems to have come into the mainstream through numerous books like Joe Rigney’s “The Sin of Empathy.” In the book Rigney argues that empathy can lead to moral compromise by immersing oneself too deeply into another's emotions, potentially clouding objective moral judgment. 

Group Empathy as a Political Force
Empathy is often framed as a personal virtue, but what happens when it operates at the level of entire social groups? Seeing Us in Them, winner of the 2022 Merze Tate – Elinor Ostrom Outstanding Book Award, argues that empathy toward outgroups—those outside one’s immediate social identity—can be a transformative force in politics.

At a time when ethnonationalist ideologies and exclusionary policies are reshaping democratic societies, the book makes a compelling case for why fostering cross-group empathy is not only possible but politically consequential. By grounding its argument in robust empirical research, it challenges the assumption that group boundaries are immutable and that political attitudes are purely driven by self-interest.

Measuring Group Empathy: The Group Empathy Index (GEI)

At the heart of the book is the Group Empathy Index (GEI), a tool designed to measure individuals’ capacity to empathize with outgroups. 

Professionals will learn how to break down barriers which prevent vulnerable patients from accessing healthcare at a masterclass delivered by a leading empathic healthcare expert.

Dr Andy Ward is an Associate Professor of Medical Education and Honorary Senior Academic GP at the University of Leicester and Director of Education and Training at the pioneering Stoneygate Centre for Empathic Healthcare who has spent decades helping medical students and healthcare professionals to develop strong empathy skills.

At this year’s Global Empathy in Healthcare Network Symposium: ‘Rehumanising Healthcare in a Divided World’ he will deliver a masterclass on ‘Empathy on the Margins: Breaking down barriers in inclusion healthcare’.

There’s a new sin on the block, and its name is Empathy.

Actually, people are painting it both as a sin and a threat.

As a sin: Joe Rigney’s new book The Sin of Empathy released late last month, tells us empathy “often leads to cowardice” and “frequently leads to brazen malice and cruelty.”

Rigney is a fellow of theology at New St. Andrews College and an associate pastor under Doug Wilson at Christ Church in Moscow, Idaho. Both Wilson and Christ Church have been in the news for, among other things, their advocacy of Christian nationalism.

As a threat: In a recent appearance on the Joe Rogan podcast, Elon Musk described empathy as the “fundamental weakness of Western civilization” and, like Rigney, expressed concern about “weaponized empathy” or, as he also describes it, “the empathy exploit.”

Soft skills like empathy and active listening may not be the first qualities associated with AI. Yet, companies are increasingly investing in AI tools to help train customer-facing employees, improving their interactions and preparing them for challenging situations.

"AI is not empathetic, but you can train it so ‘x-y-z’ means ’empathetic,’" says Anmol Agarwal, a consultant and an adjunct professor at George Washington University in the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences. "You can train AI to detect emotion. There are various AI tools that can help you determine, this customer is angry or their response has a negative connotation."

If empathy were a person, she would be in therapy for abuse.

After a life of virtue, empathy has been cast into the street by an array of detractors as varied as billionaires, psychologists and evangelicals.

The wealthiest man in the world, Elon Musk, has joined the assault against empathy: “We’ve got civilizational suicidal empathy going on. … The fundamental weakness of Western civilization is empathy, … a bug in Western civilization which is the empathy response.”

So says the man who without an ounce of empathy fires thousands of civil service workers as a camouflaged attempt to uncover fraud in the federal government while actually increasing his own fortunes.

In a world obsessed with metrics, KPIs, and performance dashboards, there’s a quiet, transformational force reshaping the way we think about leadership. It’s not a strategy, a new AI tool, or the latest management trend. It’s connection. It’s empathy. And research consistently shows that these are the tools that will most transform your business.

As we celebrate Employee Appreciation Month, it’s time to rethink what truly drives engagement, loyalty, and innovation. The best leaders don’t just focus on authority and big decisions. They focus on people.