What Is Empathic Assertiveness

What is empathic assertiveness

Assertiveness and empathy are two very important ingredients in the level of human communication. Through assertiveness, a person has the ability to clearly express their feelings and points of view. For its part, empathy is an ingredient that enhances human understanding in personal relationships. In this psychology-online article, we give you the keys to know What is empathic assertiveness and internalize this value as an engine of your personal development.

Empathy: definition

The empathy takes you to understand the other human being, listening to their history without previous filters. To implement empathy, we have to try to observe the history of the other from his point of view and not from our own judgment. That is, we have to understand its story in the personal context of the protagonist. For example, we can understand why he thinks about this issue that affects him.

Every human being is different. Note how from the same situation, people react in different ways. For this reason, a person may be concerned with an issue that would not overwhelm you in the same way, however, empathy takes you to put on the skin of that personwithout the constant interference of the own point of view.

Active listening, necessary for empathic assertivene

You have gestures of empathy towards others in many moments of daily routine. For example, when you have a kind and sincere word towards someone who is suffering in your environment, when you send words of mind to your coworkers at a time when motivation is important or when you turn off the mobile phone to pay attention to a conversation. That is to say, assertiveness and empathy also nourish active listening.

When you feel sadness to see that a person cries for bad news, then, you experience the power of empathy. You also do it when reading a book, you put yourself in the skin of the protagonist. Empathy is not an innate quality, but develops from experience.

In the context of communication, empathic assertiveness is the ability that leads you to express a message taking into account not only what you want to express, but also, how you can get those words to the receiver. For example, it’s about Do not hurt the feelings of the other. There may be situations in which the message expressed, for what means, affects the feelings of the interlocutor.

This happens, for example, in a couple breakdown. However, empathic assertiveness leads to humanism to observe not only the own point of view, but also of Understand that the other person has a heart. For this reason, through this expressive capacity, the issuer tries to send a message as positive as possible, that is, minimizing the psychological impact of that information.

What is empathic assertiveness - active listening, necessary for empathic assertiveness

Empathy and assertiveness: Complementary social skill

In this way, empathic assertiveness combines very important ingredients. On the one hand, it feeds on the sincerity and truth of an assertive message, but also acquires the mental opening of the reception towards the other that offers empathy. Assertiveness and empathy They are two totally complementary social skills. Assertivity is more oriented to the plane of introspection, empathy refers to the other.

Why is empathic assertiveness so important? Because it helps coexistence with friends, co -workers and family is more pleasant. In short, friendlier. We are not only receptive to our own emotions and feelings, but we also receive information from the mood of others. Not only through his words, but also through voice tone and body language.

This is one of the reasons why you have to talk about a very important issue with a person, it is preferable to talk about that topic in a face -to -face conversation instead of doing it through WhatsApp. In addition, having empathic assertiveness also means looking for a conducive moment to talk about an important matter.

EMPATHIC ASERTIVITY IS Important even at a professional level. Imagine, for example, in the medical field. A doctor is a specialist whose task goes beyond the diagnosis and treatment of the patient. The doctor must put his emotional intelligence into practice to transmit the information in the most human way possible and taking into account the position of the patient when he receives bad news.

Think about that situation that affected you because a person told you something in a tone or in a way that you thought was little suitable for their lack of sensitivity. This type of situation can help you understand the difference between empathic communication and that which is not at all.

What is empathic assertiveness - empathy and assertiveness: complementary social skills

This article is merely informative, in Psychology For we have no power to make a diagnosis or recommend a treatment. We invite you to go to a psychologist to treat your particular case.

If you want to read more articles similar to What is empathic assertiveness we recommend that you enter our category of social psychology.


  • Emily Psychology

    I’m Emily Williams Jones, a psychologist specializing in mental health with a focus on cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) and mindfulness. With a Ph.D. in psychology, my career has spanned research, clinical practice and private counseling. I’m dedicated to helping individuals overcome anxiety, depression and trauma by offering a personalized, evidence-based approach that combines the latest research with compassionate care.