Cognitive empathy, also known as perspective-taking empathy, is the ability to understand and perceive another person's emotions and thoughts from their perspective without necessarily feeling the same emotions. It involves mentally putting yourself in someone else's shoes and seeing the situation through their eyes.
An example of cognitive empathy is as follows:
Imagine that your friend has recently lost a loved one, and they are going through a difficult time. You haven't experienced a similar loss in your life, but you can use cognitive empathy to understand their feelings and thoughts.
In this situation, you might say to your friend:
"I can only imagine how challenging this time must be for you. Losing someone you care about deeply is undoubtedly overwhelming, and it's normal to feel a mix of emotions. Please know that I am here for you, and if you want to talk or need any support, I'm just a phone call away."
In this example, you demonstrate cognitive empathy by acknowledging your friend's emotions and recognizing the difficulty of their situation, even though you haven't personally experienced the same kind of loss. By using cognitive empathy, you show understanding and compassion, which can be comforting to your friend during their time of grief.