6 Ways Empathy Helps You Win Good Friends

Many people want to have a circle of good friends, even if it’s just a small one. Social support is, after all, an important part of human life, and it’s natural for us to want to form communities with others.

However, this isn’t an easy task for everyone! The world is full of different kinds of people with unique behaviors, opinions, and desires that finding, making, and keeping good friends can be difficult.

The good news is that your ability to gain positive friends often stems from you and your own traits. Empathy, which is the ability to put yourself in other people’s shoes and understand their struggles, can help you in that endeavor. Here are six ways empathy helps you win good friends.

Just how are you supposed to connect to others? For many people, empathy is the key. And it’s easy to see why! With the help of empathy, you’ll likely find yourself:

And that’s not all! Empathy isn’t limited to just thoughts and words. It also helps you better pick up on subtler nonverbal cues as well.

As a result, you’ll find yourself better communicating with the other party and enjoy positive conversations!

Pick up the closest book, or watch a movie. You may have noticed that some of the key things these stories center around are the protagonist’s relationship with others or its lack. And there’s a good reason for that!

As humans, we are genetically hardwired to crave close, positive, and meaningful connections with others – which is why many of us have at least some capacity for empathy! According to studies, this is done by the brain releasing oxytocin to motivate us to group up with others.

Some of the reasons for this genetic predisposition is:

This all then allows us to form beneficial bonds that can help assist each other. But how does empathy factor into this equation? It actually helps us by:

The internet may have made our vast world smaller, but that doesn’t mean we get to see all of it. We may find ourselves easily caught up in groups and communities that share the same mindset and cultural experiences – which isn’t always great!

Figuring out the reason behind why it’s so important to have friends from various cultures isn’t that hard to figure out. For starters, it:

As you can imagine, these reasons are all crucial factors to encouraging our social and emotional growth as a person – and they all hinge on you learning how to grow and practice your empathetic skills. These skills can then be applied to all sorts of cultural contexts and situations!

And these are all positives you otherwise wouldn’t get if it weren’t for empathy!

Just about any relationship expert will tell you that all relationships, be they platonic, romantic, or familial, are highly dependent on open and direct communication between the parties involved. But even within that, there’s another special ingredient that’s necessary – empathy.

But how can empathy help with that? Here are a few ways that empathy can help smooth over the rough patches you may be dealing with in your bonds with your loved ones. Or even with your coworkers and superiors!

As a result, this all then allows you to:

These days, it feels like the world is just too vast for us to really enact any true sense of change. How can you, one single person, do anything to change how cold and cruel the world can be? It makes positive thinking a tough challenge as a result.

Surprisingly, there’s actually a lot you can do – but you have to think of it as changing the world, one step at a time. You gotta remember, you don’t live in a vacuum. Even if it doesn’t feel like it, your actions have very tangible consequences!

Here’s an example scenario of how your impact may play out, far beyond what you can see.

The cycle then repeats itself in a ripple effect and gradually helps make the world a better place. Get enough people doing these small acts of kindness, and pretty soon, you’ll find that the world will be a kinder and more caring place. In this way, this is how empathy can change the world!

If it still feels like the task and burden are too much, here are a few simple acts of empathy you can carry out as a starting point. Remember: you don’t need to perform some grandiose action. Sometimes:

Channel that empathy, and let it fuel you to at least sit with your beloved grandparent if that’s all you can do. Soon, you’ll find that no act is ever too small to make the world a better place.

Arguments and disagreements are a natural part of any relationship. After all, both you and the other party are two different people. It’s only natural that somehow, somewhere, both of you will find that there’s something you’ll clash upon!

In this regard, empathy can be of great help. Empathy helps you to:

If both sides keep all of these in mind with a healthy dose of positive thinking and empathy, you’ll soon find discussions and disagreements to be an opportunity for growth!

Empathy is an important trait, and while it isn’t the only thing you need for healthy friendships, it’s undeniably important in finding, making, winning, and keeping good friends. If you tend to struggle with empathy, don’t fret! You can learn to develop empathy over time, and cognitive empathy works just as well as natural empathy if it’s your only option!