the role of empathy in Social Anxiety

Running Head : Empathy

The Role Of Empathy In Social Anxiety (Name (University (Professor (Course Title (Date

The Role Of Empathy In Social Anxiety

Introduction

The awkward feeling and behaviour that a person feels whenever he /she is approached by a stranger or the defensive thinking that one undergone each time another person is looking or staring at him /her is what is usually termed as anxiety (Reber , 2001 . Such emotion or state of mind can only be present within an interaction and is commonly exhibited in groups and /or society . Empathy

is considered to be a `multi-dimensional construct ' that is characterized as cognitive- which is `understanding and predicting someone else 's mental state ' and affective -which is actually experiencing an emotion as the result of someone else 's mental state (as quoted in Lawrence , et . al . 2007 . The difference between anxiety and empathy lies on how it is being experienced anxiety can be equated with a type of distress and /or fear while empathy is an understanding or an actual experience of another person 's mental state Social anxiety is a conscious feeling of alertness , fear and nervousness experienced during , before and after interactions with others (Hanlon 2007

This ought to report on the role of empathy in social anxiety . The connection between empathy and social anxiety can give way to an understanding of the self-other awareness . It is interesting to note that emotional distress among individuals during social encounters happens most of the time (Leitenberg , 1990 . Such cases represent a shared experience among different individuals

Understanding the connection between empathy and social anxiety can help on the comprehension of their basic distinctions and primary relation . According to Batson et al (as quoted in Lawrence et al , 2007 `imaging how other feels leads to empathy while imaging how one would feel lead to a mix feeling of empathy and personal distress

theless there are aspects of empathy that are strongly associated with social anxiety . People often think that other people think the same way as they do , thus when they observe other people behaviour (Bierhoff ,2002 they tend to assimilate that behaviour to correspond and be subjected to the same reaction and /or response that they have . It is therefore of importance to take note of the person 's emphatic concern , perspective and personal distress regarding certain situation that may lead to social anxiety (Leary , et al , 1995

This study addresses the issues concerning the role of empathy to social anxiety in reference to the aspects of empathy that is associated with social anxiety . This study ought to look at how a person sees himself and the `others . The study tries to asses how people respond to manipulated situation or perceived social interactions . It works within the perspective that there are certain aspects of empathy that are highly associated with social anxiety

An analysis of situation that leads to social anxiety was conducted There was a presumed connection between interaction condition and self- condition that were assessed for the...