What is the primary distinguishing factor between affective empathy and cognitive empathy?

The primary distinguishing factor between affective empathy and cognitive empathy lies in the nature of the empathic response. Affective empathy involves *feelingwhat another person is feeling; it's an emotional resonance where you experience a similar emotion to the other person. For example, if you witness someone's sadness and you, yourself, feel sad as a result, that's affective empathy. Cognitive empathy, on the other hand, focuses on *understandinganother person's perspective and mental state, without necessarily feeling the same emotion. It's a more intellectual or perspective-taking approach. An example of cognitive empathy would be understanding *whya colleague is upset about a project deadline, even if you don't personally feel stressed about it. Affective empathy is 'feeling with' someone, while cognitive empathy is 'thinking about' what someone else is feeling.