{"id":7247,"date":"2020-04-20T07:00:00","date_gmt":"2020-04-20T12:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/juneux.com\/blog\/?p=7247"},"modified":"2020-10-24T14:47:37","modified_gmt":"2020-10-24T19:47:37","slug":"can-empathy-be-taught","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/juneux.com\/blog\/2020\/04\/can-empathy-be-taught\/","title":{"rendered":"Can Empathy Be Taught?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\">Scientists think so.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\">There\u2019s evidence that empathy is both a <em>trait<\/em> and a <em>state<\/em>. People can be naturally empathic, just like some people are naturally creative, humble, or diplomatic. And good news&#8230; less empathic people <em>can<\/em> learn to get better at it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<!--more-->\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"879\" height=\"270\" src=\"https:\/\/juneux.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/design_thinking_framework.png\" alt=\"design thinking framework\" class=\"wp-image-7248\" srcset=\"https:\/\/juneux.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/design_thinking_framework.png 879w, https:\/\/juneux.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/design_thinking_framework-150x46.png 150w, https:\/\/juneux.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/design_thinking_framework-768x236.png 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 709px) 85vw, (max-width: 909px) 67vw, (max-width: 1362px) 62vw, 840px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>When using the design thinking framework (above), UX and CX teams talk A LOT about empathy. But, what does it actually mean to \u201cempathize with customers?\u201d Does everyone on the team have the same understanding of empathy and same level of proficiency in empathy skills? Probably not.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Before empathizing with customers, you may find you must first <em>teach<\/em> empathy skills. First, it&#8217;s critical for everyone on the team to understand that <a href=\"https:\/\/juneux.com\/blog\/2020\/04\/thinking-feeling-and-doing-empathy-in-everyday-practice\/\">empathy has 3 dimensions<\/a>:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>Cognitive empathy<\/li><li>Affective empathy<\/li><li>Behavioral empathy<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">How to Teach Empathy (and How Not to)<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>I\u2019m still researching scientifically-tested and effective ways to teach empathy, but here is what I have uncovered so far that seems to work (or not work).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Perspective-Taking<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Perspective-taking exercises seem to be effective. These include role-playing exercises, writing exercises, and workshop exercises (e.g., empathy mapping) where employees are asked to take the perspective of a customer and metaphorically walk in their shoes.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Simulations<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Simulating what it\u2019s like to be someone else\u2014either virtually or in real life (e.g., weighted garment to \u201cexperience\u201d pregnancy, blurry glasses to \u201cexperience\u201d being visually impaired)\u2014seems to increase people\u2019s knowledge about a particular condition. However, the jury\u2019s still out whether this leads to increased empathy, too. (Update: Likely no.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Coaching<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Coaching and training seems to be an effective method for teaching empathy. Employees practice mirroring and communicating empathy with virtual, pretend, or real customers\u2014and get constructive feedback about their performance from an empathy coach.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Goal-Setting<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Asking employees to set their own goals only seems to work if employees are truly motivated to be more empathic. Like anything, doing something because you <em>were told to<\/em> doesn\u2019t usually have a lasting impact.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Lecturing<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Teaching employees about customers in a lecture-style format doesn\u2019t appear to work <em>at all<\/em>. In fact, some research has shown it to have the opposite effect. Lecturing can actually reinforce and amplify some employees\u2019 biases toward others.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">In<strong> <\/strong>Conclusion<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>When evaluating an empathy training program, consider which of the three dimensions of empathy you want to improve\u2014or how you might supplement the training to include all of them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>For example, a common empathy-building technique is creating an empathy map. However, this process only helps employees build their <a href=\"https:\/\/juneux.com\/blog\/2020\/04\/thinking-feeling-and-doing-empathy-in-everyday-practice\/\">cognitive empathy<\/a>. Consider adding role-playing exercises so that the team can also strengthen their <a href=\"https:\/\/juneux.com\/blog\/2020\/04\/thinking-feeling-and-doing-empathy-in-everyday-practice\/\">affective empathy and behavioral empathy skills<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>See also: <a href=\"https:\/\/juneux.com\/blog\/2020\/04\/thinking-feeling-and-doing-empathy-in-everyday-practice\/\">What Is Empathy&#8230; Really?<\/a><br>See also: <a href=\"https:\/\/juneux.com\/blog\/2020\/04\/can-empathy-be-measured\/\">Can Empathy Be Measured?<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Related Articles<\/h2>\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-latest-posts__list wp-block-latest-posts\"><li><a class=\"wp-block-latest-posts__post-title\" href=\"https:\/\/juneux.com\/blog\/2023\/04\/from-words-to-emotions-use-storytelling-to-transform-cx\/\"><strong>From Words to Emotions: Use Storytelling to Transform CX<\/strong><\/a><\/li>\n<li><a class=\"wp-block-latest-posts__post-title\" href=\"https:\/\/juneux.com\/blog\/2023\/03\/unlocking-the-future-how-predictive-analytics-can-revolutionize-your-cx\/\">Predictive Analytics Can Revolutionize Your CX Strategy<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a class=\"wp-block-latest-posts__post-title\" href=\"https:\/\/juneux.com\/blog\/2023\/03\/the-emotional-economy-why-emotional-connections-drive-business-success\/\">The Emotional Economy: Why Emotional Connections Drive Business Success<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a class=\"wp-block-latest-posts__post-title\" href=\"https:\/\/juneux.com\/blog\/2023\/03\/the-elephant-in-the-room-whats-stopping-employees-from-putting-customers-first\/\">The Elephant in the Room: What&#8217;s Stopping Employees from Putting Customers First?<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a class=\"wp-block-latest-posts__post-title\" href=\"https:\/\/juneux.com\/blog\/2020\/04\/can-empathy-be-taught\/\">Can Empathy Be Taught?<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-button\"><a class=\"wp-block-button__link has-background has-bright-blue-background-color no-border-radius\" href=\"https:\/\/juneux.com\/blog\/contact\/\">contact june ux<\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Scientists think so.&nbsp; There\u2019s evidence that empathy is both a trait and a state. People can be naturally empathic, just like some people are naturally creative, humble, or diplomatic. And good news&#8230; less empathic people can learn to get better at it.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[112],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7247","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-strategy"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v20.8 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Can Empathy Be Taught? - June UX<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/juneux.com\/blog\/2020\/04\/can-empathy-be-taught\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Can Empathy Be Taught? - June UX\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Scientists think so.&nbsp; There\u2019s evidence that empathy is both a trait and a state. 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