Mitleid/Anteilnahme/Mitgefühl

English translation: pity/(one\'s own personal) distress/sympathy/compassion

GLOSSARY ENTRY (DERIVED FROM QUESTION BELOW)

German term or phrase:	Mitleid/Midleiden/Anteilnahme/Mitgefühl
English translation:	pity/(one\'s own personal) distress/sympathy/compassion
Entered by:	Susan Welsh

23:07 Feb 28, 2013

German to English translations [PRO]
Social Sciences - Psychology / emotions

German term or phrase: Mitleid/Anteilnahme/Mitgefühl

It's really the last sentence here that I don't grasp, not the words as such. I'm (somewhat arbitrarily) translating the above terms as pity/sympathy/compassion.

Empathie ist ... ein physiologisch-motorischer Prozess, der bei der Person, die Empathie erlebt, kognitive und emotionale Reaktionen auslöst. Weiterhin wird Empathie in der Sozialpsychologie als Basis für altruistisches Verhalten diskutiert – besonders bezüglich der Frage, ob Hilfeverhalten aus einer “egoistischen”, dem eigenen Wohlergehen dienenden, oder aus einer prosozialen, dem Wohlergehen des anderen dienenden, Motivation heraus erfolgt. Hierbei wird die Auffassung vertreten, dass Empathie zunächst in Mitleid oder Anteilnahme transformiert werden muss, damit sie in prosozialem Verhalten resultieren kann. ***Eine egoistische Motivation liegt dann vor, wenn Empathie zu einem Mitleiden am Zustand des Anderen führt.***

My draft: Thus there is an egotistical motivation if empathy leads to pity at the condition of the other person.
(Makes no sense to me!)

Thanks!

Susan Welsh KudoZ activity Questions: 524 (none open) (22 closed without grading) Answers: 462 United States
Local time: 14:28

Egotistical motivation is in play when empathy leads to distress at the condition of others

Explanation:
or leads to shared distress.

I translated the last sentence rather than the terms above because that's what you seem to be looking for...

This school of thought seems to imply that "dwelling" on somebody else's pain may be at the core selfish and unproductive (because it's directed inwards and passive). By contrast, (mere) pity or empathy seems to be associated with a more productive outward-directed response - more detached but also more motivated by the goal of getting help to the person in need.

Selected response from:

Michael Martin, MA
United States
Local time: 14:28

Grading comment

Thanks to everybody who helped in this joint effort! I will translate the sentence something like this: "Thus there is an egotistical motivation if empathy leads to preoccupation with one's own distress at the condition of the other person." "Commiseration" comes the closest to a single word with a negative connotation, but I think not close enough.
4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer

Summary of answers provided

3 +2

Egotistical motivation is in play when empathy leads to distress at the condition of others

Michael Martin, MA

3 +1

compassion/concern vs. commiseration

Johanna Timm, PhD

Pity/compassionate

Apurva Barve

sympathy/involvement/compassion

David Hollywood

when empathy becomes/developes into (one's self/own) suffering

Ramey Rieger (X)

Discussion entries: 8

Wendy Streitparth

Germany

17:05 Mar 2, 2013

@ Gangels: exactly what I thought - if I didn't say it!

gangels (X)

Mitleid vs. Mitleiden

11:12 Mar 2, 2013

There is a big difference between the two. Mitleid means "taking pity", i.e. "feeling sorry for you" without any direct physical and perhaps only marginal emotional distress, while "Mitleiden" is an actually suffering both mentally and emotionally (even physically) along with the respective person (I feel your pain), projecting his symptoms onto your own person.

Wendy Streitparth

Germany

12:19 Mar 1, 2013

Agree with Armorel. Maybe fellow-suffering would be more appropriate for Mitleiden.

Ramey Rieger (X)

Germany

@Susan

12:18 Mar 1, 2013

In your quote in the discussion, it is the object of pity who is manipulated. In the German text, it seems that the "empathizer" suffers. via commiseration, in order to draw attention away from the original object of compassion. Putting one's self in the "limelight" of suffering. I think then "suffering" would be more accurate.

Susan Welsh

United States

ASKER

@Ramey

12:11 Mar 1, 2013

I need help with translating the sentence! It seems to me that the problem with all these versions, including my own, is that the English words (pity/sympathy, compassion/distress at the condition of others) tend to be POSITIVE in connotation to the general reader, unless there is further context to suggest that the motive is manipulation (see quote in my Discussion item above). "Commiseration," as suggested by Johanna, is the only term that veers toward the negative, as when people sit around and dwell on their problems to no good effect.

Susan Welsh

United States

ASKER

@Armorel

12:05 Mar 1, 2013

You wrote in a comment to Michael: "I think it's important to note the distinction between `Mitleid' and `Mitleiden.'" Could you please explain? I don't know, nor can I find in my dictionaries, any distinction between them. The ever-unhelpful Duden says that Midleiden = Midleid.

Ramey Rieger (X)

Germany

Good morning Susan

09:34 Mar 1, 2013

So which version would you like help with?

Susan Welsh

United States

ASKER

a quote from the source of my author's paraphrase

00:56 Mar 1, 2013

Actually the article is reporting on someone else's research here, and I found the original source, which says: "Empathy can have a dark side, for example when it is used to find the weakest spot of a person to make her or him suffer, which is far from showing compassion with the other." In other words, it is the oppose of the way I translated my problem sentence. (I edited this because I realized that I had misunderstood what Michael wrote. I think my brain is worn out and I'll stop for the night.) Thanks all.

Answers

32 mins confidence:

Pity/compassionate

Explanation:
@ Susan- I will go with your original translation. I think it is correct. The use/meaning of the word "Ego" in psychology is not necessarily similar as we normally use (layman's term).

I think it means - Egocentric/egotistical empathy is based on "state/condition" of others (rather than feelings/words)

Reference: http://books.google.com/books?id=FqwzGlvU_1EC&pg=PA247&lpg=P...

Apurva Barve
Specializes in field
Native speaker of:

English,

Marathi

18 mins confidence:

sympathy/involvement/compassion

Explanation:
couple of ideas ...

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 22 mins (2013-02-28 23:29:55 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

although really you should separate the terms strictly according to the rules but ok :)

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 31 mins (2013-02-28 23:38:38 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

and your sentence: Ego(t)ism/An ego(t)istical motive is apparent when empathy with the other's situation/condition leads to sympathy

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 31 mins (2013-02-28 23:39:34 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

or: pity

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 35 mins (2013-02-28 23:43:31 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

and just to tackle the question of "egoism" versus "egotism" the following:Egoism vs Egotism

Egoism and egotism give the impression to mean similar things, but take a closer look at their meanings. Egoism is the moral concept that composes self-interest as the substance of morality while egotism is the practice of talking about oneself exceptionally because of an unjustified sense of narcissism.

Egoism is a conviction that one was not created to aid or help others and has no compulsion to do so. A self-seeker also does not anticipate to be aided by others. Egoism does not uplift oneself above others. It is venal but not at the expense of others. Egoism can be considered a virtue. It can be a vivid or a normative view.

Read more: Difference Between Egoism and Egotism | Difference Between | Egoism vs Egotism http://www.differencebetween.net/science/nature/difference-b...

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 37 mins (2013-02-28 23:45:31 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

in your case I would say "egotistic"

David Hollywood
Local time: 15:28
Native speaker of: English
PRO pts in category: 14

Notes to answerer

Asker: Thanks. I deliberately didn't separate them because they are all referred to in the same document and *one* word has to be chosen for each, whereas they actually are concepts with considerable overlap in English, and I believe also in German.

1 hr confidence:

peer agreement (net): +2

Egotistical motivation is in play when empathy leads to distress at the condition of others

Michael Martin, MA
United States
Local time: 14:28
Works in field
Native speaker of:

German,

English
PRO pts in category: 116

Grading comment

1 hr confidence:

peer agreement (net): +1

compassion/concern vs. commiseration

Explanation:
My take:

Commiseration: identifying and voicing similarities between another person’s situation and one’s own); focused on the own, personal experience.
Example: “This is so sad. I remember what it was like when my own father died, so I know exactly what you are going through now”)

Compassion or concern (relating to the other person’s suffering and feeling it as one’s own; worrying about him; focused on the other person)
Example: “ Your father died, and now you feel overwhelmed, abandoned, and alone; I worry about you and would like to help you through this”)

1. commiseration--> 2.compassion and concern (=empathy)
(egoistisch--> altruistisch)

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 1 hr (2013-03-01 01:01:27 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

You are right, Susan, it is confusing and I did not express it very well above!
I should have written:
1. commiseration=egotistical empathy=
2. compassion + concern=altruistic empathy)

My attempt (as non-native English speaker):

Egotistically motivated empathy will result in commiseration with the other person’s situation
(while altruistically motivated empathy will result in compassion and concern)

Johanna Timm, PhD
Canada
Local time: 11:28
Specializes in field
Native speaker of:

German
PRO pts in category: 122

Notes to answerer

Asker: Thanks, Johanna. But what do you make of that last sentence? It still makes no sense to me.

Asker: Oh, I see. I think this is beginning to make sense.

13 hrs confidence:

when empathy becomes/developes into (one's self/own) suffering

Explanation:
I'm still somewhat confused because the content of the original in the discussion and the content of the German are very different.

Ramey Rieger (X)
Germany
Local time: 20:28
Native speaker of: English
PRO pts in category: 60

Login or register (free and only takes a few minutes) to participate in this question.

You will also have access to many other tools and opportunities designed for those who have language-related jobs (or are passionate about them). Participation is free and the site has a strict confidentiality policy.

Return to KudoZ list

KudoZ™ translation help

The KudoZ network provides a framework for translators and others to assist each other with translations or explanations of terms and short phrases.

See also:

ProZ.com term search

Search millions of term translations

Mitleid/Anteilnahme/Mitgefühl

English translation: pity/(one\'s own personal) distress/sympathy/compassion

Answers

KudoZ™ translation help

Your current localization setting

Select a language

Mitleid/Anteilnahme/Mitgefühl

English translation: pity/(one\'s own personal) distress/sympathy/compassion

Answers

KudoZ™ translation help

You have native languages that can be verified

Your current localization setting

Select a language