정서전염과 공감의 관계

Abstract

Objectives The purpose of the present study was to investigate the relationship between empathy and emotional contagion, and effect of facial expression mimicry treatment on enhancement of emotional contagion and/or empathy.
 Methods In order to supplement the limitations of measurement method, both self-reported questionnaire and experimental measurement were used. Emotional Contagion Scale(ECS) and Interpersonal Reactivity Index(IRI) were used in survey research, and Balanced Inventory of Desirable Responding(BIDR) were used to control social desirability bias. In the experiment, participants watched interview video clips and responded how they empathized with the interviewee and how their mood had changed. The experimental group additionally proceed with a treatment that mimics the facial expression of the interviewee, and examined whether facial expression mimicry treatment could enhance emotional contagion and empathy in college students.
 Results Self-reported survey results indicated that sensitivity of emotional contagion has a significant positive influence on levels of empathy, even though control the social desirable responding. Also, emotional contagion accounted for 27.7% of variance in empathy. However, in the experiment, there was not a consistent significant correlation between emotional contagion and emotional empathy in the correlation analysis. Also, there were no differences on the level of emotional contagion and empathy between the groups.
 Conclusions The implications of the present study are to try to clarify the relationship between emotional contagion and empathy via both self-reported questionnaires and experiments.