Seeing Through Another's Eyes: Why Drama Builds Empathy
Learning drama allows you to think as someone else and see the world through the lens of another. This gets you to understand perspectives you might not necessarily align with. You will also find a freedom in expression as you get used to your inhibition being lowered.
Recent psychological research suggests that empathy plays a key role in building positive relationships. Empathy helps us to connect with others and understand their thoughts and feelings. In other words, the ability to understand and relate to another person’s thoughts and feelings is empathy. In short, empathy is known as mirroring another person’s thoughts and feelings.
An infant begins to develop effective empathy, which are feelings we get in response to another person’s emotional state. As the child attains three years, the child develops cognitive empathy (the ability to identify and understand other people’s emotions). In simple words, if you witness another person experiencing sadness and you share the pain, it is empathy.
How does drama teach empathy?
Everyday interactions with people teach empathy and emotional intelligence. You can nurture this positive feeling through reading books, listening to music, and watching theater performances.
While watching a drama, you watch different characters interacting with each other and experiencing certain emotions. Mirror neurons in your body will start firing in response. For example, if a character in the drama is rejected by a friend, such a situation can lead you to feel what it is like to be rejected by a friend. This happens because you can connect to the character and, at the same time, experience what he/she is feeling. Drama provides a chance to learn from other people’s actions and practice caring.
Theatre provides children with a chance to explore and mirror difficult and challenging emotions. If a drama includes a person bullying another individual, it will be a chance for you to watch and learn how both parties experience and respond to that situation. The kids can also learn about the consequences.
Humans learn through social interaction and positive communication. Drama provides a rich source of behavioral and language examples, which a normal human being mimics. Experts believe that drama is a fun and effective way of engaging empathy, as the individual gets to practice these skills without actually needing to be in the situation.