Lack of empathy 16 signs that betray it

All, at some point, we have interacted with people who seem to have a lack of empathy. Given this situation, you are most likely feeling anger, restlessness and sometimes you feel betrayal especially at those moments when you need support.

Not having it can lead to few understandable ducts for most and great disability, even in some people It usually unleashes aggressiveness or violence. If you don't know how to recognize someone who lacks it. In this post we are going to talk about different signs that betray someone with lack of empathy.

Content

• What is empathy?
  • 1. Cognitive empathy
  • 2. Affective or emotional empathy
  • 3. Compassionate empathy or empathic concern
• What makes a person lack empathy?
• Personalities with lack of empathy
• Signs that betray the lack of empathy

What is empathy?

Empathy is a characteristic that can prevent healthy coexistence. Frequently, it gives rise to conflicts caused in the absence of consideration and respect with the other.

The problem is that the lack of empathy is not always easily discovered. Sometimes it only manifests when there is narrow contact or difficult situations occur. The lack of empathy can generate consequences in the life of the person who lacks it as well as in their environment, causing instability, loneliness, to adaptation problems to humanity or within the reach of social rules.

According to psychologists and researchers Paul Ekman and Daniel Goleman, there are three types of empathy:

1. Cognitive empathy

It is the ability to Imagine other appearances without feeling or distinguish them in the first person.

2. Affective or emotional empathy

This type of empathy tries to feel the feelings of another person, although it is not always the case. I could also include physical sensations compatible with this emotion.

3. Compassionate empathy or empathic concern

This type of empathy is a mixture of cognitive and emotional empathy. You admit and perceive other people's impressions and also feel them.

What makes a person lack empathy?

There are many causes that can generate a person lacking empathy, usually begins in parenting, that is, have grown without signs of affection, surrounded in an environment that promotes the care of others can generate this lack in the development of emotional intelligence.

Having suffered from abuse in childhood, both physical, psychic or sexual will cause changes at cognitive and emotional level, which can affect the development of this quality.

Personalities with lack of empathy

As we have already mentioned in previous lines, the lack of empathy can be one of the symptoms of some personality disorders. Some investigations recommend that some people with Limit personality disorder (TLP) They can have difficulty developing emotional empathy, but they can show cognitive empathy.

He Machiavellism a personality and narcissism trait A mental health condition, have been related for many years to lack of empathy. However, in a study it was analyzed that they have a certain degree of empathy but lack motivation to show or act accordingly.

Machiavellianism and the dark triad of personality

While people with autism may have difficulties with cognitive empathy in certain cases. However, emotional empathy can be developed although it is difficult to express it. This lack of empathy between people with autism is not directly related to the causes of autism as deduced in a 2018 study, but has to do with the co-ocurrence of Alexitimia, which is the difficulty in experimenting, identifying and expressing emotions.

Signs that betray the lack of empathy

The lack of empathy is usually not easily detected, but there are some signs that can help you detect whether or someone close can suffer from it.

1. Are Extremely critical. They quickly criticize others without putting themselves in the place of others
2. Have Problems to feel happy for others
3. They possess inability to face emotional situations
4. They create 100% in the veracity of their own ideas and beliefs, and judge to anyone who does not agree with them
5. They blame the victim
6. They love to receive favors but They have trouble showing their gratitude. They even bother when something does not come out as they want
7. They presume to be cold people, while they see others as too sensitive
8. Lack of patience For other people's emotional reactions
9. They do not listen to opinions of other people, and are difficult to forgive a mistake
10. They have trouble relating to people, so it is difficult to keep your friendship
11. Have Problems to get along with your relatives
12. They talk a lot about themselves And of their lives regardless of what other people share
13. They react with anger or impatience When you feel frustrated with other people
14. They think they won't go through negative things
15. They do not understand that their behavior affects other people
16. They feel distrust of other people, since they cannot see the other equal, so it prevents him from believing in his feelings and intentions

In short, it can be said that lack of empathy can generate an extensive variety of problems. In addition, it is a quality that varies according to the situation, so that naturally empathic people can experience a lack of empathy from time to time.

Being aware of the situations in which you feel disconnected and not emotionally involved can help you better consider some elements that you might be overlooking. But if the lack of empathy is a lasting and deep problem that affects communication and your relationships, The most convenient thing is that you go to speak your case with a psychologist, who will tell you what to do in your case.

What is echopathy? EMPATHY EMPATHY