I think its both. But can we actually ever feel what someone else is feeling? My understanding of empathy is when a person is aware and mindful of another person's general mood. When someone is sad, usually we see visual cues such as facial expression and body language, and if we have a conversation then we learn the reasoning or use our own sense of reasoning to understand, maybe the affective part is when we try to relate it to a feeling we have had ourselves. Then we let that person know...somehow or other...(a hug or kind words) that we are aware of their situation. Have I just confused myself here??