50 Times People Acted Like Jerks And Were Rightfully Exposed For Their Actions (New Pics)

It’s easy to conclude that the people on this list have exhibited a lack of empathy. However, empathy itself is a complicated matter because there are three types of it, according to licensed clinical psychologist Dr. Sherry Pagoto. 

In an article for Psychology Today, Dr. Pagoto outlined the three types of empathy: cognitive, emotional, and compassionate.

As Dr. Pagoto explains, cognitive empathy is about the ability to understand another person’s perspective. It’s saying, “I can understand why you reacted that way,” and is a key skill for conflict resolution. 

Meanwhile, emotional empathy is about feeling what the other person is going through at that moment. It’s the strong emotions you may feel for another person’s situation, whether you’re happy for a sibling who passed the bar exam or sad for a friend who lost a loved one.

Passionate empathy occurs when you take action based on your emotional empathy. It’s when you’re driven to donate to a cause or help someone who is in dire need. 

According to Dr. Pagoto, our ability to empathize varies, depending on our disposition at the moment. As she explained, stress, for example, can suppress that ability to express empathy.

However, a deliberate lack of empathy and respect for others could be a sign of a personality disorder. According to a 2023 study, it could be an influence of growing up in an unhealthy family environment where discrimination of some form is prevalent. 

Since the world has been more open about mental health discussions, it’s easy to blame such entitled behaviors on a possible narcissistic personality disorder. But according to Psych Central, other possible reasons could be Machiavellianism (a.k.a. manipulative personality), psychopathy, borderline personality, and even autism.