Re-examining the relationship between interpersonal reactivity index sub-scales and mental well-being: Implications of the pandemic

Abstract

The pandemic has severely impacted people's Mental Well-being (MWB) globally. Pre-pandemic studies have widely linked MWB with empathy. Against the backdrop of pandemic, we intend to re-examine this association between empathy, as widely measured by the Interpersonal Reactivity Index (IRI) sub-scales: perspective taking, empathic concerns, and personal distress with MWB. For this, a survey using a non-experimental research design was carried out during the 2020 lockdown. We used the Structural Equation Modeling approach to analyse the data. All the standardized scales have been tested for unidimensionality, reliability, and validity. We also resort to a self-administered questionnaire consisting of questions related to day-to-day activities to support the empirical findings. Results demonstrate a positive relationship between perspective taking and empathic concern with MWB and a negative relationship between personal distress and MWB. The response to the self-administered questionnaire corroborates with our model results and presents the scope of interpreting the findings. In continuation, limitations, contributions, and future scope conclude this essay.