Animals: the Necessary Piece in Learning Empathy
Our world has become ruthlessly selfish where often only the self-serving can succeed. We are so lacking in emotional understanding that it is almost impossible to resolve conflict because we cannot see any perspective but our own. Building the skill of empathy is crucial to our society today. Though learning to be empathetic is challenging, empathy is a skill that improves with practice (Cromwell).
We can begin practice through early animal interaction during our egocentric childhood years. Exposure to animals from a young age is critical to empathetic development in humans. What we learn during childhood creates who we are in adulthood, so with consistent exposure, children’s empathetic skills will fully integrate into their social behavior (Suttie, Cromwell).
How do animals relate to empathy? While not human, they teach us immensely about how we perceive things that are different from us (Arluke).
Children’s perspectives are limited because they have not developed the ability to understand complex issues or even the fact that other people exist and have their own needs and lives. Children are used to being cared for, coddled, and showered with attention and affection (Wice et al.).
When a young child spends time with and cares for an animal, the caretaking role is reversed, allowing the child to engage in prosocial behavior. Being in the position of caretaker for an animal requires not only fulfilling basic needs for food, shelter, and exercise, but also compassion to fulfill the social needs of the animal. The introduction to this caretaking position early on shows children that there is more to relationships than just being taken care of, and demonstrates the ways in which we are able to care for other beings once we understand them: Everyone does not feel the same way I feel. My perception of this world is not the only one. Why is this animal behaving this certain way? The child learns to sense the feelings and needs of the animal, understands these feelings and needs by imagining the animal’s reality, and then becomes motivated to relieve the animal of any sort of discomfort. These are the earliest signs of the three different parts that make up empathy as a whole: affective and cognitive empathy and empathetic concern (Wice et al., Gómez-Leal et al., Molenberghs).
Affective empathy is “the ability to sense or physically experience the emotions of another”. Cognitive empathy is “the ability to understand the experiences of others by recognizing and imagining their reality”. Empathetic concern is what “motivate[s] a person to take action and relieve the suffering of [another]” (Gómez-Leal et al.). To be fully empathetic, one must possess all three of these traits.
Once true empathy is learned, the child begins empathizing with other people in their life (Cromwell, Suttie). Empathy becomes an essential and utilized social skill by adulthood, creating a more empathetic workplace and society. It all begins with an animal.
In his article “Our Animals, Ourselves,” anthropologist Arnold Arluke discusses important points about the ways animals spark our curiosity. Arluke has published a number of books relating to the benefits of animals on our emotional intelligence and supports the idea of animal interaction to begin emotional growth. He describes animals as “our inter-species looking glass” and “man’s best hope” (Arluke 36). The innocence of animals puts into perspective the complexity of humans; they make us think (Arluke 34–39): How can this animal relate to me? How does it differ from me? Animals drive us to compare what we know of our own experiences to the experiences of another. Empathy is this wanting to understand. How can I make everyone’s world great?
To understand the benefits of empathy, we must first understand the significant distinction between sympathy and empathy. Sympathy is a feeling of pity for someone else, while empathy is the ability to perceive the feelings of others, imagine their situation, and feel with them (Cromwell). We can always pity others, but it is understanding that leads to true change. Without empathy, we cannot connect or communicate with each other meaningfully because there is little established mutual respect that comes from understanding. There will not be effective conflict resolution until we understand the people who are different from us and where they are coming from. We can then work to a conclusion that includes everyone’s best interest.
An example of empathizing for the wellbeing of others is how people handled mask wearing during the Covid-19 pandemic. Choosing to wear a mask was an act of empathy to everyone: stepping outside of our own world view to understand the situations of the people around us and take action to protect them and their wellbeing. Lack of a mask signified a lack of empathy, simply regarding one’s own comfortability with no thought about anyone else’s safety. At the pandemic’s height, many of us did feel sympathy for those who had lost friends and loved ones, but it was empathy that drove action for the safety of people other than ourselves (Cromwell).
There is life beyond what each of us alone perceives. We as a society must move forward to a future that better serves us all, and the most powerful way to advance is through interacting with empathy. When children care about animals, they are more likely to respect, trust, hear, and care about others. If we all commit to empathy, we will drastically increase positive interactions and promote balance and understanding among us all.
Works Cited
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