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PubMed2006

Attachment style, empathy, and helping following a collective loss: evidence from the September 11 terrorist attacks.

This study examined the relationships between avoidant and ambivalent attachment dimensions, empathy, and helping behavior in the context of one of the most tragic examples of collective loss in the USA. US college students (314 total: 219 females, 95 males) completed questionnaires between 20 and 42 days after the September 11 terrorist attacks. Results from this correlational study confirm previous laboratory experiments finding that attachment style may be related to people's ability to experience empathy and engage in helping behavior. Following the terrorist attacks, those with lower scores on avoidant attachment (i.e., more secure individuals) reported greater empathy with the bereaved. No association was found between the anxious attachment dimension and empathy, most likely due to a curvilinear relationship. Empathy for the bereaved was significantly correlated with helping behavior. Although neither attachment dimension was directly associated with collective helping behavior, avoidant attachment was negatively and indirectly related to collective helping behavior via its relationship with empathy for the bereaved.

Adolescent↗

PubMed2003

Empathy, enablement, and outcome: an exploratory study on acupuncture patients' perceptions.

OBJECTIVES: To conduct an exploratory, retrospective study of acupuncture patients' perceptions of practitioner empathy, patient enablement, and health outcome, and to investigate the associations between them. METHODS: In a retrospective, observational study, questionnaires were distributed to 192 patients randomly selected from a population of 6348 who, several months previously, had participated in a survey of acupuncture safety, and had agreed to be contacted again. The main measures included patients' perceptions of their practitioners' empathy using the Consultation and Relational Empathy Measure, the Patient Enablement Instrument, and the Glasgow Homeopathic Hospital Outcome Scale (measuring change in main complaint and well-being). RESULTS: A total of 143 (74%) patients responded (27% men and 73% women) with an average age of 51 years. Comparisons between the population, the sample selected, and the responding sample showed reasonable equivalence. The majority of patients (71%) were in the middle of an ongoing course of treatment at the time of completing the questionnaires for this study. 36% of patients were attending for reasons of "general well-being," 34% for musculoskeletal problems, 11% for emotional or psychological problems, and 19% for other reasons. Empathy and enablement scores were not influenced by age or reason for attendance, but men showed significantly lower scores than women (p < 0.05). Patient enablement was significantly positively correlated with perception of their practitioners' empathy (Spearman's rho = 0.256, p < 0.01). Enablement in turn was strongly positively correlated with the outcome of both the main complaint (rho = 0.457, p < 0.0001) and improved well-being (rho = 0.521, p < 0.0001). CONCLUSION: Patients' perceptions of consultations with their acupuncturists suggest that their experience of empathy is significantly associated with patient enablement, which in turn is highly correlated with improved self-reported health outcomes.

Acupuncture Therapy↗

PubMed1981

Depth psychology, death and the hermeneutic of empathy.

The paper develops an understanding of empathy by considering the role of time in distinct empathic situations. Beginning with a brief review of the history of the concept of empathy the argument proceeds to the notion that empathy entails the universalization of an individual's experience. This results in the domination of the experience of the other by appeal to what is termed the "always." Depth psychology, especially in Jungian form, shows us that empathy can in fact take this highly negative form by way of projection. The association of empathy and projection brings us to the question of how one confronts the death of the other in an empathic manner. Here the problem of one's individual temporality becomes crucial. In order to retain the unique and the personal experience of one's own death as a prospect in the future it is necessary to overcome any empathic relationship to the person who has died. This necessity gives rise to a hermeneutic of empathy which seeks to overcome the experience of the "always."

Death↗

PubMed1996

The role of empathy in the care of dementia.

The concept of empathy in relation to caring is reviewed. A variety of definitions of empathy are considered to show how empathy has been used within general nursing practice. A wide range of literature is drawn on to gain insights into the multifaceted and diverse information on this topic. The differing perceptions that arise from various professional viewpoints are explored. A set of attributes are identified for empathy and these are considered in relation to clinical practice in elderly mental health. Three examples of care are discussed to show how emotive empathy can be employed to give an improved direction to care of dementia clients. The concept is reviewed in relation to the particular needs of caring for dementia. It is suggested that it should be included in mental health training. It is concluded that emotive empathy has a vital part to play in the delivery of care for the elderly mentally ill.

Aged↗

PubMed2005

Empathy in boys with disruptive behavior disorders.

BACKGROUND: The present study examined empathy in 8- to 12-year-old clinically referred boys with disruptive behavior disorders (DBD) (n=25) and age-matched normal controls (n=24). METHOD: Situational empathy was assessed by children's emotional and cognitive responses to six empathy-inducing vignettes (displaying sadness, anger or happiness). Dispositional affective empathy was measured by a self-report questionnaire for children. RESULTS: In line with predictions, results revealed deficits in dispositional and situational empathy among DBD boys, and inverse relationships between both empathy measures and parent-reports of aggressive/disruptive behavior among all children. The study also explored whether DBD boys are less responsive to just any emotion, or to specific emotions. Compared to normal controls, DBD boys responded less empathically to sadness and anger, but equally empathically to happiness. In addition, while DBD boys responded less empathically than the normal controls to each and every sadness vignette, they did not show equally low levels of empathic responses to all sadness vignettes. CONCLUSIONS: These findings suggest that situational factors may be involved in DBD boys' reduced responsiveness to another person's sadness.

Affect↗

PubMed2006

Empathy-motivated helping: the moderating role of group membership.

In this article, the authors present two laboratory experiments testing a group-level perspective on the role of empathy in helping. Experiment 1 tested the authors' predictions in an intercultural context of helping. Confirming their specific Empathy x Group Membership moderation hypothesis, empathy had a stronger effect on helping intentions when the helper and the target belonged to the same cultural group than when they belonged to different groups. Experiment 2 replicated these findings in a modified minimal group paradigm using laboratory-created groups. Moreover, this second experiment also provides evidence for the hypothesized psychological mechanisms underlying the empathy-(ingroup) helping relationship. Specifically, analyses in the ingroup condition confirmed that the strength of the empathy-(ingroup) helping relationship systematically varied as a function of perceived similarities among ingroup members. The general implications of these findings for empathy-motivated helping are discussed.

Adult↗

PubMed2004

Comparisons of nurses and physicians on an operational measure of empathy.

In view of many changes taking place in today's health care marketplace, the theme of empathy in health provider-patient relations needs to be revisited. It has been proposed that patients benefit when all members of the health care team provide empathic care. Despite the role of empathy in patient outcomes, empirical research on empathy among health professionals is scarce partly because of a lack of a psychometrically sound tool to measure it. In this study, we briefly describe the development and validation of the Jefferson Scale of Physician Empathy (JSPE), an instrument that was specifically developed to measure empathy among health professionals (20 Likert-type items). The purpose of this study was to compare nurses and physicians on their responses to the JSPE. Study participants were 56 female registered nurses and 42 female physicians in the Internal Medicine postgraduate medical education program at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital. The reliability coefficients (Chronbach's coefficient alpha) were 0.87 for the nurses and 0.89 for physicians. Results of t test showed no significant difference between nurses and physicians on total scores of the JSPE; however, multivariate analyses of variance indicated statistically significant differences between the two groups on 5 of 20 items of the JSPE. Findings suggest that the JSPE is a reliable research tool that can be used to assess empathy among health professionals including nurses.

Adult↗

PubMed2002

An evaluation of the Empat as a measure of victim empathy with civilly committed sexual offenders.

Enhancement of victim empathy is a common component in the treatment of sexual offenders. However, consensus about the definition of empathy and the best instrument to measure empathy in sexual offenders is lacking. This paper evaluates the Empat as a measure of empathy with patients civilly committed under California's Sexually Violent Predator law. Rapists and child molesters in the current sample scored significantly higher in victim empathy than any of the original sex offender groups, with rapists scoring higher than the control group cited by M. McGrath, S. Cann, and R. Konopasky (1998). Clinicians have found the Empat to be too face valid and easily manipulated by patients within this population. The construct of empathy as applied to sex offenders is reviewed and the properties of a more adequate measure of this construct are suggested.

Adult↗

PubMed2003

Sex differences in empathy and its relation to juvenile offending.

Implicit in most theoretical accounts of sex differences in offending is the assumption that females are less likely than males to engage in crime--especially serious, violent crime--in part because of their comparatively higher levels of concern for others and stronger affiliative ties. Much research suggests that significant sex differences in both empathy and serious offending emerge in adolescence, with females displaying notably higher levels of empathy and males engaging in notably higher levels of serious offending. However, there has been little empirical work assessing the degree to which sex differences in empathy among adolescents can account for sex differences in offending. This research uses data from a sample of adolescents attending public high schools in Philadelphia (n = 425) and a sample of adolescents incarcerated in the California Youth Authority (CYA) (n = 232) to examine the relation between empathy and serious offending. Results suggest that empathy acts as a protective factor for both males and females but that there are subtle differences among males and females in the relation between empathy and offending.

Adolescent↗

PubMed2005

Gender differences in the relationship between empathy and forgiveness.

Much research has shown that women are more empathic than men. Yet, women and men are equally forgiving. However, it is not clear whether empathy is more important to forgiveness for men or for women. The purpose of the present study was to examine gender differences in levels of empathy and forgiveness and the extent to which the association of empathy and forgiveness differed by gender. Participants were 127 community residents who completed self-report measures of empathy and forgiveness. The present results showed that women were more empathic than men, but no gender difference for forgiveness was apparent. However, the association between empathy and forgiveness did differ by gender. Empathy was associated with forgiveness in men--but not in women.

Adaptation, Psychological↗

PubMedDate not supplied

[Naturalizing empathy].

Empathy is the ability to share emotions with others. It is acknowledged to be a powerful means of tacit communication, a key ingredient in any therapeutic relationship as well as in psychotherapy. Empathy is the cornerstone in the humanist perspective (Ego-psychology) in clinical psychology. This approach is often considered as poorly grounded on scientific and objective evidence. It is however acknowledged that empathetic therapists are more effective than less empathetic therapists. I shall argue that this paradox, i.e. it is the least scientific and the less validated psychotherapeutic approach that is the most efficient, can be eliminated if one considers the nature of empathy, its biological foundation, its evolutionary origin and its cognitive architecture. In this paper I will suggest that empathy is based on specific information processing modules which have been designed by natural selection to cope with social regularities in expressing and reading emotional states. This has provided adaptive benefits to individuals living in large groups bestowing them with mechanisms for cooperativity, altruism and more generally various aspects of prosocial behaviour. The capacity to express emotions, and to read and understand emotions of others also ensures implicit communication with others and may be at the root of intersubjectivity. This perspective on empathy is then articulated with two concurrent hypotheses regarding theory of mind (the simulation and the theory-theory) which aim to explain the human capacity to understand that the behaviors of other intelligent agents are caused by intentions, desires and beliefs. In this context, empathy can be considered as a simulation (or analogical) process that is necessary to understand but not sufficient to interpret other people. This last issue is relevant to clinical practice.

Biological Evolution↗

PubMed1992

Distress in cancer patients and primary nurses' empathy skills.

This descriptive, correlational study was designed to explore the relationship between the empathy skills of primary nurses and the distress level of their primary patients. Data on empathy skills were generated from the La Monica Empathy Profile. Data on patient distress were generated from the Profile of Mood State Inventory and a Visual Analogue Scale. A nonprobability convenience sample of 65 primary nurses employed on surgical primary nursing care units of a large teaching hospital participated in the study. Sixty-five cancer patients assigned to the participating primary nurses also took part in the study. Descriptive statistics of each variable were examined. Pearson product-moment correlations were used to examine the hypothesis and the demographic variables for nurses and patients. Analysis of variance was used to assess relationships among many of the demographic variables. A significant correlation (but not in the expected direction) was found between the perceiving/feeling/listening empathy skill and patient distress. Nurses' age, years of experience, and education were significantly correlated with some empathy skills. Distress levels of female patients were higher than those of male patients. In general, nurses scored low in the use of empathy skills, and patients scored low in distress. The complex nature of defining and measuring communication skills and relating these skills to outcomes in patient care, such as distress, requires more study. Research questions exploring how and why nurses' interpersonal skills make a difference to patients and their health care outcomes must be generated by nurse administrators, nurse educators, nurse researchers, and practicing nurses.

Adult↗

PubMed1987

Women's attributions of responsibility for date rape: the influence of empathy and sex-role stereotyping.

The purpose of the study presented here was to investigate the relationship among sex-role stereotyping, empathy with the victim, and subsequent blaming of the victim in response to a date-rape scenario. It was hypothesized that sex-typed (traditional) females would be less likely to perceive forced sex on a date as rape and would attribute more responsibility to the victim than would more egalitarian (nontraditional) females. It was also predicted that the enhancement of victim empathy would result in less victim blame. The subjects were 76 female undergraduates who were chosen on the basis of their extreme scores on a sex-role stereotyping scale. Vignettes describing a date rape were used to manipulate victim empathy. Findings indicated that although attributions of responsibility were influenced by the subject's sex-role stereotyping, the manipulation of empathy had no apparent influence on victim blame. Furthermore, the lack of correlation between the degree of victim empathy and the subject's own history of victimization suggests that victim empathy is not a component in victim blame.

Adult↗

PubMed1993

Sexual abuse prevention with high-risk males: the roles of victim empathy and rape myths.

The outcome of two sexual abuse prevention programs, one emphasizing victim empathy and the other stressing modifying rape myths, was evaluated with high-risk males. Sixty-eight high-risk males, as determined by self-reported likelihood of committing sexual abuse, were randomly assigned to an empathy-treatment, a facts-treatment, or a no-treatment control group. Treatment effects were assessed using subjects' pre- and post-treatment scores on the Likelihood of Sexually Abusing scale, the Rape Empathy Scale, the Acceptance of Interpersonal Violence scale, the Adversarial Sexual Beliefs Scale, and a test of self-reported sexual arousal to forced versus consenting sex. In addition, posttest scores on an Asch-type conformity measure were obtained. Results of validity checks indicated that high-risk subjects differed from low-risk subjects on a number of rape-related variables, that the victim-empathy condition increased subjects' empathy, and that subjects found both treatments to be credible and helpful. Comparisons between the empathy-, facts-, and no-treatment group contraindicated the practice of dispelling rape myths as a method of preventing rape among high-risk males.

Arousal↗

PubMed1977

Measuring empathy in occupational therapy students.

Empathy is one interpersonal skill dimension that contributes to the occupational therapy process. This paper explores the concept of empathy and briefly recapitulates some of the assessment devices used in an attempt to measure the skill. It further describes an investigation involving 23 occupational therapy students in a basic master's program. The students were administered the Hogan Empathy Scale, and scores were correlated with peer and faculty empathy ratings. The results revealed a significant correlation between measured empathy and perceived ability to empathize. Possibilities are discussed for using the Hogan Empathy Scale in occupational therapy education.

Education, Graduate↗

PubMed1996

[Level and dynamics of empathy in I and VI year students at the Medical Academy of Medicine in Gdańsk].

Empathy is and important element in achieving didactic goals in the field of communication skills. It is a valuable feature particularly in the family doctor practice. 353 students (210 female and 143 male) from the first and last year of medical school were survived by using the psychological questionnaire-"Emotional Empathy Scale" by A. Mehrabian and N. Epstein, evaluating emotional aspects of empathy. The findings suggest that the level of empathy is higher among women than among men from the first year. The difference is statistically significant. During six years of medical education there is a significant decrease of empathy skill in women, specially in its emotional aspect. These students represent the lack of willingness in contact with people having problems. According to these findings we decided to continue our research to check the hypothesis concerning reasons of decreasing level of empathy in medical students.

Empathy↗

PubMed1976

Some structural considerations in the relationship between M and empathy.

After reviewing some of the difficulty around defining empathy, this paper draws attention to three underemphasized structural factors in the empathic tie between self and other. The following distinctions are drawn: (a) empathy vs. fusion with the object: (b) empathy vs. a narcissistic attachment to the object: and (c) empathy vs. an intuitive but fragmented orientation to part-objects. The relationship between Rorschach's M and empathy is reexamined in light of these considerations, and it is concluded that the experience of kinaesthesia on the Rorschach reflects some, but not all, of the components of empathy.

Journal Article↗

PubMed2006

Association of perceived medical errors with resident distress and empathy: a prospective longitudinal study.

CONTEXT: Medical errors are associated with feelings of distress in physicians, but little is known about the magnitude and direction of these associations. OBJECTIVE: To assess the frequency of self-perceived medical errors among resident physicians and to determine the association of self-perceived medical errors with resident quality of life, burnout, depression, and empathy using validated metrics. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS: Prospective longitudinal cohort study of categorical and preliminary internal medicine residents at Mayo Clinic Rochester. Data were provided by 184 (84%) of 219 eligible residents. Participants began training in the 2003-2004, 2004-2005, and 2005-2006 academic years and completed surveys quarterly through May 2006. Surveys included self-assessment of medical errors and linear analog scale assessment of quality of life every 3 months, and the Maslach Burnout Inventory (depersonalization, emotional exhaustion, and personal accomplishment), Interpersonal Reactivity Index, and a validated depression screening tool every 6 months. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Frequency of self-perceived medical errors was recorded. Associations of an error with quality of life, burnout, empathy, and symptoms of depression were determined using generalized estimating equations for repeated measures. RESULTS: Thirty-four percent of participants reported making at least 1 major medical error during the study period. Making a medical error in the previous 3 months was reported by a mean of 14.7% of participants at each quarter. Self-perceived medical errors were associated with a subsequent decrease in quality of life (P = .02) and worsened measures in all domains of burnout (P = .002 for each). Self-perceived errors were associated with an odds ratio of screening positive for depression at the subsequent time point of 3.29 (95% confidence interval, 1.90-5.64). In addition, increased burnout in all domains and reduced empathy were associated with increased odds of self-perceived error in the following 3 months (P=.001, P<.001, and P=.02 for depersonalization, emotional exhaustion, and lower personal accomplishment, respectively; P=.02 and P=.01 for emotive and cognitive empathy, respectively). CONCLUSIONS: Self-perceived medical errors are common among internal medicine residents and are associated with substantial subsequent personal distress. Personal distress and decreased empathy are also associated with increased odds of future self-perceived errors, suggesting that perceived errors and distress may be related in a reciprocal cycle.

Adult↗