Empathic accuracy : empirical overview and clinical applications

Perspective-taking, understanding, empathy, knowing the other, and mentalizing are core processes within human communication. Decades of clinical and social psychological research point to the cardinal role of having some accurate awareness of the inner feelings, thoughts, ideas, and intentions of the other people in our lives. The current chapter provides a review of research on empathic accuracy: the degree of accuracy we achieve in understanding the thoughts and feelings of the people we are interacting with. We will take a closer look on the fundamental processes of empathic accuracy and to its important role in close relationships and clinical settings