Fostering Empathy for Well-Being Across the Life Span: Implications for Individuals and Communities and Suggestions to Increase Empathy

The critical intersection of empathy and well-being is increasingly gaining the attention of scholars in multiple fields. Included in this chapter is a diverse body of knowledge linking empathy to positive social, emotional, and societal development. To ensure well-being, empathy is an essential skill that needs to be developed and reinforced from childhood and across the lifespan. Historically however, the focus on building empathy, and related characteristics such as compassion, mindfulness, and presence, have been limited in both formal and non-formal education. The few programs that do exist tend to narrowly focus training toward children. While empathy training should start early, as shown by the landmark pedagogical approaches of Fred Rogers firmly linking empathy to positive development and well-being, recent work in educational programming seeks to build empathy throughout youth (15–25 years) and the wider community level. A direct need exists to link early child programs with similar youth programs to instill empathy as a critical life skill that sustains well into adulthood. This paper seeks to: (1) Bring together diverse scholarly literature on the impacts of empathy on well-being at the individual and greater societal level; and (2) Provide a conceptual model that promotes empathy development across the lifespan. From these implications, recommendations for program and policy development are provided.