4.5
Nurturing Intentional Empathy
Description
Traditional notions of empathy tend to encourage individuals to place themselves in another's circumstances and consider how they would react. It is a cognitive maneuver. Intentional empathy is when individuals try to place themselves in another’s circumstances–in their shoes– and make a sincere effort to engage with their thought process and emotions from that perspective. This additional facet of viewing issues through the other’s lens (and not just circumstance) allows for individuals to gain a fuller appreciation of others’ perspectives and experiences and can allow for the development of a greater psychological safety net within the group.
Building empathy in collaborative discussion requires us to not only recognize and respond to the emotions, but to inquire and explore with others the circumstances and situations which prompted these feelings. This exploration also helps ensure we are not acting from generalizations or assumptions about why people are experiencing or expressing emotions.
Learning Goals
Understand the importance of intentional empathy for building psychological safety within a collaborative discussion space
Utilize intentional empathy as a tool for deeper, more nuanced understanding
Practice Time: 35 minutes
Tell us what you think. Rate and review this activity:
Have any helpful suggestions or modifications for this activity?
Share them in the comments below!
0 Comments
nuwa
March 25, 2023 at 2:46:05 AM
test
m
March 13, 2023 at 1:09:47 AM
test
BB
March 12, 2023 at 7:22:13 AM
Test
Bob
March 12, 2023 at 7:21:49 AM
Test
JC
January 30, 2023 at 12:54:20 AM
Testing
RT
January 17, 2023 at 12:39:09 AM
This activity could possibly pair with Activity 1.8, which evaluates current discussion style. After completing that evaluation, this activity could be used to help participants envision and set goals or intentions for how they would like to participate in discussions going forward.
RT
January 16, 2023 at 10:26:09 PM
This activity helps develop a skill that is useful in many contexts, including in the classroom, workplace, community and even at home.
RT
January 13, 2023 at 3:17:13 AM
This activitiy can be modified or used as is in helping STEM students and science & technology professionals in identifying the unintended consequences and uses of any new scientific or technological developments or tools, such as AI models, etc.
Shannon Wheatley Hartman
December 7, 2022 at 7:03:49 PM
I am waiting for someone to try this activity out and share it back with us. This is probably one of the most ambitious activities in the toolkit. I really love it but I have not had the opportunity to try it out with a group. Please someone try this and share back!
Shannon Wheatley Hartman
December 7, 2022 at 7:01:33 PM
Another all time favorite. I really recommend this activity when you are trying to think about the complexity of a social topic and who/what is impacted by it. It pairs well with the Divergent Thinking/Surround the Topic activity. This activity also includes a really helpful worksheet for capturing types of stakeholders.