Empathy is an absolutely essential aspect to all of us, but sadly, it is often glossed over in our day-to-day lives. In fact, a study by Michigan University found that college students are 40 percent less empathetic than they were several decades ago, ironically due to how exposed we are to the world through social media.
We are more likely to click on content that provokes negative emotions. This is why “ragebait” seems to be trending and why we are desensitized to hateful content we come across; more and more trends weaponize free speech, normalize microaggressions and casualize stereotypes.
Recently, I’ve found myself getting frustrated opening up every comment section to find hate speech. When someone shares their experience on social media, it’s often reduced to a single story through offensive jokes. Instead, culture and identity are meant to be received with empathetic perspectives because they broaden our understanding of the world.
Simply put, we need to be more empathetic, but that alone is just an idea. Taking action that is both impactful and progressive can be difficult, so here are five ways you can make a difference for yourself and your community by being more empathetic.
1. Practice Emotional Intelligence
The key to empathy is emotional intelligence, which is the skill of being aware, starting with yourself. Harvard University gives us three steps to become more emotionally intelligent: recognize your own emotions, ask for feedback and read literature.
Once you can respond to your own emotions, it becomes a lot easier to relate to what someone else is going through. My recommendation is to start by journaling your feelings; I find it easier to process what the people around me are going through when I’ve taken the time to self-reflect.
2. Volunteer Whenever You Can
Volunteering is one of those things that doesn’t have to be consistent. As busy college students, finding time on a free weekend to help out a local organization is a great way to spend the time. United Way of San Luis Obispo County provides an easy way to find short-term and long-term opportunities to give back to community.
In fact, volunteer work is an investment for our own mental and physical health. Psychological studies have proven that volunteering increases our empathy, value for altruism, and even makes us live longer. Take this as your sign to research organizations and commit a couple hours of your schedule to helping them.
3. Go Vote!
I think as Americans we’re susceptible to feeling like our one vote can’t possibly make a difference. However, your vote has more influence on election results than you’re probably aware of. Countless local, statewide and federal elections have ended in very slim voting margins. Even when electing our president, every vote counts. Take the 2000 election for example, where Al Gore lost by just 537 votes.
Politics aren’t something we can overlook as empaths, because they affect every aspect of our lives. Next time you receive a ballot in the mail, educate yourself on what you’re voting for and find your local polling site. We can expect the Primary Election for the state of California in June, followed by midterm elections for Congress seats in November. Voting is an integral part of being empathetic, as your vote shapes the state of the world beyond you.
4. Practice Media Literacy
From children’s books to the internet, we are surrounded by media as early as birth. Practically everything we consume affects the way we see things because of the narratives we consume from around the world.
Media literacy is an essential part of being empathetic. Practicing this means making the effort to think critically, recognize impact and create media conscientiously; We all have the ability to do so. We need to seek out information that challenges what we know, in order to confront our personal biases and prevent us from forming single stories that are misrepresentative.
5. Be An Active Listener
Last, but certainly not least, you can start being more empathetic by actively listening to others. While this includes body language and eye contact, it also requires actively responding. Everybody wants to feel seen and heard; By supporting someone by actively listening, you can establish a positive relationship with them.
One thing you can try this week on your journey as an empath is to talk to someone new. Strike up conversation with someone sitting next to you in class, or maybe with someone standing behind you in line at the grocery store. Listening to stories we wouldn’t normally hear broadens our understanding of how other people think and feel, which can lead us to becoming more empathetic for their situations.
It can be difficult to swallow the lack of empathy we see around our country and our world. Seeing cruelty justified and used to fuel hateful rhetoric should always feel unsettling and should be called out.
As disappointing and overwhelming as it may be to experience, taking action starts within individuals. There are so many ways that we can be the change we want to see, and these are all rooted in being more empathetic. Recognizing perceptions beyond just our own is vital to our roles in our social and political climate, and by doing this, we not only become better empaths, but better versions of ourselves.