sympathy Archives

Compassion is important in marriage!

Did you know that there’s a whole science behind compassion in relationships? Seriously! Ok, bear with me, even if you’re not a researchy-geek like me (I promise I won’t make this sound like your high school chemistry book.) Because compassion is majorly important in marriages, even more so than you might think. And research has a lot to say about it.

Just like anything sciency, it’s essential to define terms well. And sometimes compassion, empathy, and sympathy get mixed up. Let’s untangle that.

Empathy = You don’t share the same feelings or experiences, but you choose to imagine what it might be like. They hurt; you don’t but can put yourself in their shoes. You can empathize.

And then we come to compassion. This is when you empathize/sympathize with someone (say, your spouse), and you’re prompted to show kindness in their situation.

They hurt. You empathize/sympathize. You say something to lift their spirits. Compassion!

So, sympathy/empathy are only the beginning of compassion. One study even suggests being empathetic is good to a point, but it can actually affect you negatively unless it’s followed up by compassion.¹

So compassion is more than a feeling. (Classic rock fans, anyone?) Or maybe it’s more accurate to say, compassion isn’t really beneficial unless it’s put into action. One researcher describes compassionate acts as “caregiving that is freely given.”²

Think about this in your marriage.

No matter what your spouse experiences, good days or bad, you can:

Sympathize with them, or…
Choose to empathize with them, and then…
Feel compassion toward them, which…
Prompts compassionate action.

Y’all…we should be doing this all the time in our marriage!

Why? (Here we go with the science again…) Research³ tells us compassion is good for you, your spouse, and your marriage!

Compassion toward a spouse predicts higher levels of daily relationship and life satisfaction for both people. (Don’t miss this: happiness in marriage goes up on a daily basis! Who doesn’t want that?)

Compassionate acts benefit the emotional and mental well-being of the person receiving them (in this case, your spouse).

The person who is acting compassionately toward their spouse also experiences a positive effect on their well-being, even if the spouse doesn’t necessarily recognize the compassionate act!

Bottom line: Compassionate acts do a marriage good.

It makes you a better spouse. It makes your spouse a better person. And it makes your marriage more loving, intimate, and strong.

Let’s consider one more reason why compassion might be one of the most important qualities in marriage. No matter who you are, most of us would agree that the world could always use a little more compassion. What if the real power of compassion in our world begins with compassionate action in our marriages and families? We know kindness is contagious.⁴ As they say: as families go, so goes the world.

So, inject some compassionate action into your marriage — for your spouse, for you, for the world.