Mary has just returned from maternity leave to teach high school biology. As the school term progresses, she feels increasingly torn and tearfully voices her concern to a friend that there are not enough hours in a day to be both a good mom and a good teacher. Mary's friend gives her a hug and tells her that she admires her for being such a good mother and teacher. Mary is the recipient of:

Mary is the recipient of 'Empathy'.

Explanation:

Empathy means to be in another person's shoes and try to understand what they are going through.

Empathy is of three kinds - cognitive, emotional and compassionate.

Mary is the recipient of primarily the third kind.

Generally, when someone relates a harrowing experience, he/she expects you not only to understand what you are going through or a similar emotional experience in return. What they expect you to do is to take some action to mitigate the trouble.

Here when Mary relates her tale of distress to her friend, she is compassionate enough to understand what she is going through and in order to make her feel better, she hugs her and showers praise upon her.

It is more sincere than sympathy. She feels sympathy and shows empathy.