Principlev1
Create a cognitive step between feeling another person's
Create a cognitive step between feeling another person's emotion and acting on it by asking: 'This is their emotion, which I am feeling through empathy — does this feeling accurately represent the situation as I would assess it independently?'
Why This Is a Principle
Derives from Emotional contagion is an automatic, pre-conscious (emotional contagion is automatic), Between every event and every emotional response is a (cognitive appraisal sits between event and emotion), and Cognitive and Affective Empathy Are Distinct (cognitive empathy distinct from affective empathy). The principle distinguishes between feeling what others feel and being governed by it.