Empathy: How to learn to feel more for other people

We learn to feel empathy from the people around us. "Our results indicate that the social environment you create has a long-lasting effect on whether empathy unfolds or diminishes," said Grit Hein of the University of Würzburg, Germany. Mears said that while social interactions are important for building empathy, books are also great and can help us feel empathy for people outside of our usual social bubbles. Empathy can create tribalism When people urge other people to show empathy, to imagine what it's like "in their shoes," the goal is to create a shared emotional experience. "Empathy is good because it creates an immediate connection, but to maintain this, you need social norms like respect and justice," said Hein.