The ability to understand another person's feelings and attitudes is known as:

Empathy is defined as the capacity to recognize, understand, and share the feelings of another person. It goes beyond just acknowledging someone else's emotions; it involves actively putting oneself in their situation and experiencing their feelings from their perspective. This quality is essential in various fields, including counseling, healthcare, and education, as it fosters deeper connections and more effective support between individuals.

Sympathy, while related, does not entail the same level of emotional involvement. It is more about feeling pity or sorrow for someone else's misfortune, rather than fully comprehending their emotions. Distraction refers to diverting attention away from something, and communication is the process of conveying information, which, although important, does not specifically address the understanding of feelings and attitudes. Thus, empathy is the most accurate term for the ability to grasp another person's emotional state.