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Empathy is an umbrella term that is used to refer to many related processes in which an individual may come to understand, share, or feel “moved” by another’s emotional or physical state.
Empathy broadly involves a sensitivity to others’ feelings–feeling something in response to their expressions, and having an understanding of what the other person is feeling and why.
References
Goetz, J. L., & Simon-Thomas, E. (2017). The landscape of compassion: Definitions and scientific approaches. The Oxford handbook of compassion science, 1, 3-15.