IndexEmpathy as a key element of human relationshipsAdaptation to the cultural and personal values of othersWhen you begin to relate to other people, you build a connection with them throughout the many different relationships and people we encounter in our lives, sometimes we become selfish and forget to think about others. We begin to lose focus on others and forget about our own needs, feelings and thoughts. We tend to go through phases in our lives where we no longer practice seeing things from someone else's perspective. People begin to forget that others have completely different thoughts from ours, different emotions and above all different experiences from those we have. It is quite important to practice the habit of putting yourself in someone else's shoes to become other-oriented. By seeing the world through someone else's perspective, we gain a better understanding of what is happening and what that person is going through. “Being other-oriented requires awareness of the thoughts, needs, experiences, personality, emotions, motivations, desire, culture and goals of one's communication partners, while maintaining one's own integrity” (Beebe 2) . By being other-oriented, people empathize, adapt and relate to others, which results in greater understanding. The idea of being aware of others may seem overwhelming, but with anticipation and understanding it can enhance your relationship with others and the different types of people you surround yourself with. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay Empathy as a key element of human relationships For people to achieve the idea of being other-oriented and achieve its satisfaction, empathy is something that must be practiced and understood. “Empathy means entering your inner world and being there on a deeper level. This can be achieved by being very sensitive to changes in one's emotions, whether fear, anger, or confusion from moment to moment” (Yildiz 1471). Tapping into someone's emotions can be scary and challenging. Since they experience and handle things differently, it may be difficult to get into their mindset. By engaging and immersing yourself in the emotions of others, you will create another emotional experience for yourself. By creating these emotional experiences, you allow yourself to reflect on them in the future. To get to their sense of emotion you must first understand why they feel this way. Asking and listening is extremely important when trying to connect with someone on a more personal and emotional level. For example, when you have a romantic relationship with someone, you need to achieve and understand empathy for that relationship to grow and be healthy. This does not mean that people should forget about their emotions and focus solely on their partner, it is necessary to satisfy some kind of middle. In fact, using your past emotional experiences and applying them to someone else's can be very helpful. “While the cognitive component is about understanding the other person's thoughts by stepping into his or her role, the emotional component is about understanding his or her emotions as much as those felt by the other person” (Yildiz 1471). be in the back of your mind as you continue to focus and consider the feelings of those around you. Emotions can be difficult to perceive and feel, or perhaps one person is simply more empathetic than the other, but once the emotions aredetected and brought out, people begin to react and feel emotions. Maintaining the bond you have with your partner can be a challenge when emotions are not understood, which is why being other-oriented is crucial in a relationship to maintain balance. It is important to apply this type of skill in all relationships, whether serious or not. Understanding the emotions of your partner, a family member or even a colleague strengthens the bond not only in the relationship in general, but especially in mutual communication. Being empathetic and mastering this skill creates a sense of value in the other person and builds emotional understanding in yourself. Being empathetic towards someone doesn't simply mean being able to feel what they are experiencing, it also means demonstrating it through non-verbal communication. “Providing empathetic and supportive facial expressions, vocal cues, hugs, and positive touch helps reduce stress and improve a person's overall well-being (Beebe 183). Creating small cues towards your communicator shows that you are listening with emotion and that you are responding to their emotions. Even a small thing, like changing the tone of your voice, can help calm or change your feelings in a situation. If you know that the person you are talking to is quite sensitive, use a softer tone of voice when speaking to them instead of an aggressive or demanding one. Improving the well-being of others and showing them that they are valued by you is the key to being other-oriented. Becoming empathetic is just one of many ways to adapt to the needs and thoughts of others. The idea of maintaining one's integrity, mentioned earlier, refers to fitting in with others. “Adapting means adapting your behavior in accordance with what someone else does. We can adapt based on the individual, the relationship, or the situation” (Beebe 109). Now, when people start to adapt to others, it is important to listen and understand what they say and what their behavior is like, but people still need to keep their own beliefs in mind. People don't have to suddenly change their motivations, beliefs or desires as they suit, they simply need to respect the opinions and thoughts of others and stay true to their own. This can be a confusing skill to maintain due to falling too far to one side by changing everything you believe in, or not changing or adapting at all. There's a difference between not adapting and not knowing. “A lack of specific knowledge about a new acquaintance means that being other-oriented involves drawing on one's own thoughts, feelings, and perspective to understand the other person” (Beebe 320). Don't adapt to something you have no knowledge or information about. Adapting to the Cultural and Personal Values of Others This is something that happens commonly, especially when you are trying to impress someone. Meeting someone you might like for the first time can be intimidating, and when you start liking everything they like just to impress them, it leads to dishonest things and ends up hurting your communication within your relationship. Maintain your integrity while continuing to ask questions and learn about them. Ask the other person and fully understand what they are saying to readjust some things to their liking. “The inability to understand another person's expectations can be a source of conflict and can undermine relational development” (Beebe 270). Conflict between you and others can arise when you do not understand or when you also choose not to understand what information is being given to you by that person. Adapting to others in this way can be quite complicated and very challenging. For example, when people get into a new romantic relationship,the idea and intention to adapt begin to arise. The more you spend time and communicate with this person, the more you will learn about them. When people start to focus on what the other is saying, they start to pick up on specific things. Some of these specific things could be their values, culture, experiences and beliefs. Adapting to the values of others can be quite difficult, especially if there are strong differences between the two communicating. “Common-sense, naive, or secular beliefs about a topic and its role in interpersonal relationships are predictive of how individuals approach, interpret, and behave during disagreements” (Ricco 156). When these disagreements arise, it is important to be open-minded and have no opinions to fully adapt to their standards. Your behavior matters too, it's probably best not to overreact or not react at all. It is necessary to anticipate what will happen if the situation allows. Being able to adapt and respond quickly shows a sense of understanding and a sense of listening. Regarding adapting to someone's culture and beliefs, which is a very important topic in relationships especially in today's society, flexibility and an open mind are very necessary, as well as an understanding of intercultural competence. “Being interculturally competent means much more than simply being aware of what is appropriate or simply being sensitive to cultural differences. It means behaving appropriately toward others” (Beebe 101). It is necessary that if others set standards that they feel strongly about and would like you to follow, then it is important that you adapt to those things. Being aware of your culture and adapting to what you believe and what you have been exposed to will lead to a stronger relationship and having some new common interests. Even if you disagree or conflicts begin to arise, demonstrating that you are willing to accept those differences creates a healthy space and environment. By being open-minded with others, you can create similarities in topics. Being other-oriented applies not only to those with whom we have similarities, but also to those with differences. “We build bridges with others who are different from us when we can identify something we might have in common” (Beebe 100). We meet different people, then we adapt to them to relate to them. We tend to “build bridges” and meet in the middle to accommodate each other. When these common interests are created, the idea of feeling comfortable and relatable in a relationship begins to manifest. Not only does this allow the other person to feel appreciated, but the fitter demonstrates that they are willing to do these types of things to maintain the relationship and/or conversation. When we empathize and adapt to the needs of others, it becomes easier to relate to them, but in some cases it is not always so easy. What makes relating to others a little easier is to constantly accept and ask questions. You won't know if you can relate to others if you know nothing about them, which is why you need to ask questions. “Asking questions and answering questions is vital to learning and relating to others” (Petress). When you ask someone something directly, it opens up the conversation and shows the other person that you are willing to know and understand them. When you directly ask a question to someone you're talking to, you typically get a direct answer pretty quickly. This allows mutual understanding to happen more quickly and keeps the conversation moving. When you open the conversation, there's more chance you'll find something withthat you can relate to. The more you ask and share information about yourself, the more information you are given, therefore the more exposed you are to relating to them. As you begin to relate to other people, you build a connection with them. You can relate to people in many ways. different ways, whether it be emotionally, personally, desires or even simple interests. Finding those common things sparks the conversation and keeps the relationship and interaction interesting. Relating to others can happen in very small ways. For example, when you are in the workplace and working with all types of clients, they are generally seen as strangers with whom you have no personal connection, but you can make connections. Small talk is created in the workplace when a customer needs specific help, possibly for a specific occasion or reason. So now you know more about this person and can relate to him based on the situation and topic of discussion. When you connect with strangers, the air clears and makes the conversation and experience more comfortable. Responding to what others have to say gives a sense of reassurance that we are actually listening. “Asking and answering questions are valuable skills, and these skills make a real difference in the lives of those who possess these skills” (Petress). When we ask and answer we share our sense of understanding with others. Small acts of relating with others open up experiences and knowledge. Some information we hear, however, may not necessarily be something we want to hear. When people start to get to know another person better, this could potentially lead to conflict. There may be some things said that you don't entirely agree with, which is fine, but respecting them is key. Also, when you start to understand more about people, you know what can make them happy or even make them angry. “Being other-oriented might make you refrain from ending a relationship because you know the pain it will cause your partner” (Beebe 292). It can be difficult to fall into a situation if you don't know how to handle it well or how to respond to your partner. This is where the practice of empathy and adapting experiences can come in handy. By analyzing your partner and thinking back to your experiences you may find a solution to conflicts when they arise. It's about going back to your previous experiences and remembering what you absorbed from them. Creating and gaining new experiences surrounds the three ideas of empathy, adaptation, and relating to others when one becomes other-oriented. By reacting to and accepting the thoughts and ideas of others, you are gaining a new and personal experience that you both now share. By holding on to any previous experiences, you can pass it on to others and reflect it in other aspects of your life and in new relationships that will occur. When we begin to try to understand people, “we are usually engaged in second-person conversation situations with others with whom we share a world. In such social interaction, we mostly play an active part ourselves instead of speaking” (Newen 211). This idea of playing an active role is extremely important in all aspects of understanding someone. Not only do you show that they are appreciated through words, but you can show these things by not even speaking. You can show them through nonverbal communication such as body language, eye contact, and facial expressions. We are also opening up a new little world with others when we try to understand them. People begin to play a role in the lives of others when we decide to become other-oriented. We create different sides of ourselves that reflect on specific people.
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