Basic Empathy Research Articles

Cyberbullying and empathy among elementary school students: Do special educational needs make a difference?

The present study investigates involvement in cyberbullying and empathy skills, as well as the relationship between the two among general education sixth grade elementary school students with and without special educational needs (SEN). Specifically, 120 students with SEN (Autistic Spectrum Disorder-ASD, Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder-ADHD, learning disabilities) and 120 students without SEN from 29 randomly selected schools of the second biggest city in Greece completed a self-report questionnaire, which included a short version of the "Cyberbullying Questionnaire" (Smith etal., An investigation into cyber bullying, its forms, awareness and impact, and the relationship between age and gender in cyber bullying. A report to the Anti-Bullying Alliance. Unit for School and Family Studies, 2006) and the "Basic Empathy Scale"-BES (Jolliffe & Farrington, 2006, J Adolesc, 29:589, 2006). The results showed that, regardless of gender, involvement in cyberbullying (as victims/bullies) concerned primarily students with SEN, mainly those with ASD and ADHD. Accordingly, students with SEN and mostly those with ASD expressed lower affective and cognitive empathy compared to the rest of the students. Finally, for all the participating students both affective and cognitive empathy negatively predicted engagement in cyberbullying (as victims/bullies). Implications for preventive actions in elementary education, and especially for children with SEN, are discussed in detail.

Traumatic bonding in victims of intimate partner violence is intensified via empathy

Intimate partner violence (IPV) is an increasingly prevalent problem in most parts of the world including sub-Saharan Africa. However, little is known about the bonding patterns of IPV victims who decide to remain with the perpetrator despite the molestation. This study investigated the mediating role of empathy in the relationship between partner molestation and traumatic bonding among victims of IPV in Nigeria. Participants were 345 women purposively selected from female clients who visited the Sexual Assault Referral Centre (SART) Awka, Anambra State ( n = 145) and the Lagos State Domestic and Sexual Violence Response Team, Lagos ( n = 200). Their age ranged from 18-61 years (M=35.79; SD=8.6 years). They responded to the Composite Abuse Scale, the Basic Empathy Scale, and the Stockholm Syndrome Scale. Results of data analysis using the Hayes regression-based PROCESS macro showed that partner molestation was not significantly associated with traumatic bonding. Affective and cognitive components of empathy were positively associated with increased traumatic bonding. Estimates of indirect effects indicated that affective empathy and cognitive empathy served as pathways through which IPV was linked to dimensions of traumatic bonding. Empathy may engender tendencies that increase the likelihood for traumatic bonding. Findings highlight the dynamics of empathy in building and sustaining traumatic bonding in victims of IPV.

TRẢI NGHIỆM BẤT LỢI THỜI THƠ ẤU VÀ SỰ THẤU CẢM Ở HỌC SINH TRUNG HỌC PHỔ THÔNG

This study was conducted on 1070 high school students in Hanoi to find out the current situation of adverse childhood experiences, empathy, and the relationship between these two variables. The study also looked into the impact of the demographic characteristics such as gender, age, parent’s occupation, parents’ educational level, and living area on the level of empathy and adverse childhood experiences in high school students. By using two instruments including the Adverse Childhood Experiences International Questionnaire, the World Health Organization, 2020, and the Basic Empathy scale (Jolliffe và Farrington, 2006), results revealed that high school students experienced adverse childhood experiences at a low level. The most common types of adverse childhood experiences were emotional neglect, having family members being treated violently, having one or no parents, parental separation, or divorce. Most of the adverse childhood experiences happened in the family. Demographic factors also influence the extent to which some types of adverse experiences are experienced. In general, 4 groups of adverse childhood experiences positively correlated together. High school students had an average level of empathy, in which the score of cognitive empathy was higher than that of affective empathy. Girls have higher scores of overall empathy than boys did. There was a positive correlation between empathy and cognitive empathy with the number of adverse childhood experiences in high school students. Explanation of results and limitations of the current studies were also discussed.

Do We Want a Human First, and a Lawyer Second? Developing Law Student Empathy Through Clinical Legal Education

In the UK, the legal profession is increasingly acknowledging the importance of emotional intelligence and empathy in legal practice. Furthermore, research has demonstrated that soft skills such as empathy can be taught, and that these skills should be incorporated in legal education. This study uses the Basic Empathy Scale to examine whether law student participation in law clinic and tax clinic modules had any effect on students’ self-reported empathy levels. It is submitted that, in general, the students who worked in clinic experienced a statistically significant positive shift in their empathy levels. However, a few students who worked in clinic also experienced a decrease in their empathy levels, and the possible reasons for this are explored. In addition, this paper considers the impact of gender on students’ self-reported empathy levels.

Do Attitudes Towards Animal Rights Predict Empathy?

The attitudes that are formed due to human-animal interactions has proven to be an essential and unique research field for psychology. This study aims to determine whether the attitudes of adults towards animal rights significantly differ according to the following variables: gender, educational background, marital status, having children, pet ownership, and membership to non-governmental organizations dealing with animal right issues. It also examines how attitudes towards animal rights predict empathy. The participants of the study are 493 adults (289 female, 204 male), living in Turkey. The participants were determined through convenient sampling method. The data was collected through Attitudes towards Animal Rights Scale and Basic Empathy Scale. Independent samples t-test and multiple standard linear regression analysis were used for the analysis. The results revealed significant differences between the participants’ attitudes towards animal rights and their gender, educational background, marital status, having children, pet ownership, having a pet in the past and membership to non-governmental organizations dealing with animal right issues. In addition, regression analysis showed that attitudes towards animal rights and having pets in the past accounted for empathy. The study showed that respect to animal rights is an important variable that accounts for empathy. Suggestions and directions for further research are discussed.

Validation of the Basic Empathy Scale in a Sample of Young Adults in Kosovo: A Cross-Sectional Study

Validation of the Basic Empathy Scale in a Sample of Young Adults in Kosovo: A Cross-Sectional Study

Understanding volunteer retention in a complex, community-centred intervention: A mixed methods study in Ontario, Canada.

Volunteers are critical to supporting health care systems worldwide. For organisations that rely on volunteers, service to clients can be disrupted when volunteers leave their roles. Volunteer retention is a multi-layered phenomenon. In this mixed methods case-control study, we compared two naturally-occurring volunteer groups supporting a complex primary care-based programme for older adults in the community: volunteers retained by the programme, and volunteers that left. Our objectives were to describe differences between the groups and also understand how compassion changed over time for those that stayed. We collected quantitative data on demographics, the UCLA Geriatric Attitudes Scale, the Professional Quality of Life Index, the Basic Empathy Scale, the Reasons for Volunteering subscale of the Volunteerism Questionnaire and the 5-level EQ-5D. Qualitative data were collected through focus groups/interviews. Overall, 78 volunteers completed surveys and 23 participated in focus groups/interviews. Volunteers that stayed were more likely to be a little older and were a slightly higher proportion male than those who left. They also had significantly less positive attitudes towards older adults, descriptively lower Cognitive Empathy and descriptively higher Secondary Traumatic Stress. Compared to volunteers who left, volunteers retained were more likely to have said they were volunteering for Enhancement or Social purposes; however, these differences were non-significant. Over time, Compassion Satisfaction decreased with a medium effect size for those that stayed, and Burnout decreased with a small effect size. Volunteers that stayed described more logistical and client-related aspects of the programme were working well. We recommend that volunteer programmes communicate positive programme impacts that could enhance volunteers' development, communicate any client impacts to volunteers to reinforce volunteers' purposes for volunteering (thus reinforcing that their work is meaningful), and ensure logistical aspects of volunteer role work well.

Evaluating the relationship between empathy, pain knowledge and attitudes among nursing students

BackgroundIt is essential for nurses to manage pain effectively. Nurses start to learn about pain while still students. Pain assessment is more effective with knowledge of pain, positive attitude, and empathy. Nurse educators should evaluate nursing students' knowledge and attitudes toward pain management and their relationship with empathy and should revise the curriculum accordingly. No published studies have been found to date where the relationship between nursing students' knowledge and attitudes toward pain and empathy has been investigated. ObjectivesThis aim of this study was to determine the factors affecting pain knowledge and attitudes of nursing students, and to evaluate the relationship between students level of empathy and pain knowledge and attitudes. DesignThis study was a quantitative, descriptive-correlation design. Settings and participantsThe study population was 150 students who were studying in the third and senior grades a nursing department in North Cyprus. The sample included 133 nursing students. MethodsData were collected with the ‘Student Descriptive Information Form’, ‘Knowledge and Attitude about Pain’ questionnaire, and the “Basic Empathy Scale” (BES). The data were evaluated with descriptive analysis, nonparametric tests, and correlation analysis by using SPSS 20.0 program. ResultsMean affective and cognitive empathy scores were 30.16 (SD = 4.42) and 29.29 (SD = 2.65), respectively, and the mean score obtained from the Nurses' Knowledge and Attitudes Survey Regarding Pain was 13.50 (SD = 3.22). Furthermore, 91% of the participants stated that the patient is the most accurate judge of the intensity of pain, but only 1.5% of them responded correctly to questions on pharmacological methods of pain therapy. A weakly positive correlation was found between cognitive (r = 0.100, p = 0.252) and affective (r = 0.013, p = 0.881) empathy levels and pain knowledge and attitudes; nevertheless, this was not statistically significant (p > 0.05). ConclusionsThe study results indicate that curricula regarding pain management should improve the knowledge and attitudes of nursing students toward pain management. Seminars and practical training about how to use empathy in pain management should be planned and clinical practice should be scheduled more frequently.

Basic Empathy Scale: A Systematic Review and Reliability Generalization Meta-Analysis.

The Basic Empathy Scale (BES) has been internationally used to measure empathy. A systematic review including 74 articles that implement the instrument since its development in 2006 was carried out. Moreover, an evidence validity analysis and a reliability generalization meta-analysis were performed to examine if the scale presented the appropriate values to justify its application. Results from the systematic review showed that the use of the BES is increasing, although the research areas in which it is being implemented are currently being broadened. The validity analyses indicated that both the type of factor analysis and reliability are reported in validation studies much more than the consequences of testing are. Regarding the meta-analysis results, the mean of Cronbach’s α for cognitive empathy was 0.81 (95% CI: 0.77–0.85), with high levels of heterogeneity (I2 = 98.81%). Regarding affective empathy, the mean of Cronbach’s α was 0.81 (95% CI: 0.76–0.84), with high levels of heterogeneity. It was concluded that BES is appropriate to be used in general population groups, although not recommended for clinical diagnosis; and there is a moderate to high heterogeneity in the mean of Cronbach’s α. The practical implications of the results in mean estimation and heterogeneity are discussed.

Intra/interpersonal Functions of Non-suicidal Self-injury in Adolescents with Major Depressive Disorder: The Role of Emotion Regulation, Alexithymia, and Childhood Traumas

Objective: This study examines non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI) behavior, its functions and associated factors like childhood trauma, alexithymia, empathy, and emotion regulation, in adolescents suffering from depression. Method: The study sample consisted of 67 adolescents; 11 boys (mean age = 14.94 ±1.45) and 56 girls (mean age = 14.72 ±1.48), all with major depressive disorder. Standard tests and measurements were used for data collection, including Beck Depression Inventory for identifying depression symptoms; Brief Symptom Inventory for screening psychiatric symptoms; Inventory of Statements About Self Injury (ISAS) to identify the lifetime frequency and functions of NSSI in subjects; Childhood Trauma Questionnaire to evaluate sexual, physical, and emotional abuse plus childhood neglect; Toronto Alexithymia Scale to assess difficulties in identifying and/or describing feelings; Basic Empathy Scale to measure empathy levels within the framework of basic emotions; and the Difficulty of Emotion Regulation Scale to determine the awareness and clarity of emotional response. Results: It was found that 64.1% of adolescents studied have had at least one NSSI to date. The most frequent intrapersonal functions associated with NSSI were Affect Regulation and Marking Distress, and the most common interpersonal functions were Toughness and Interpersonal Boundaries. According to a correlation analysis with ISAS scores, Affect Regulation was associated with obsession-compulsion, anxiety, difficulty identifying feelings and clarity scores. Marking Distress, generating a physical sign of feeling awful, was positively associated with Paranoid Ideation scores and negatively associated with Emotional Neglect scores. The Interpersonal Boundaries was positively associated with Childhood Physical Abuse and Impulse scores. Conclusions: NSSI is realized by different functions in the intrapersonal and interpersonal areas in adolescents with depression. Emotion regulation abilities, alexithymia, and childhood trauma are also associated factors or functions of NSSI.

Alexithymia and Empathy in a Non-Clinical Population: How do they Correlate?

Alexithymia and empathy are functional concepts surrounding human emotions.This study aimed to estimate the association between alexithymia and empathy within a neurotypical population. The study was a cross sectional survey conducted within a non-clinical population of medical students at a University in England using voluntary sampling to complete the Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS), Basic Empathy Scale (BES), General Health Questionnaire- 12. Alexithymia and empathy scores did not show a statistically significant correlation. There was a statistically significant negative correlation between total alexithymia and cognitive empathy scores (correlation co-efficient was -0.184, p value was 0.013). Men and women differed significantly on empathy scores with women showing significantly higher empathy. The relationship between the understanding of one’s own emotions and the interpretation of others’ emotions are different functions with a more complex interaction than a simple linear correlation. Future research should focus on further exploring the differences between cognitive and affective empathy.

The Basic Empathy Scale in Chinese College Students: Adaptation and Psychometric Properties of a Revised Form.

This study aimed to revise the Chinese version of the Basic Empathy Scale for college students. The cluster random sampling method was used to select 805 college students from two universities to conduct confirmatory factor analysis, correlation analysis, reliability analysis, and an independent samples t-test. The confirmatory factor analysis model illustrated that the two-factor model failed to fit the data, and the two-factor model with methodological effect was finally accepted. Therefore, the questionnaire exhibits a strong methodological effect among Chinese college students which requires further study. Emotional and cognitive empathy had a significant positive correlation with gratitude and Internet altruism behavior, which showed good convergent validity. The gender difference test revealed that the emotional empathy level of girls was significantly higher than that of boys. The revised Basic Empathy Scale showed acceptable reliability and validity.

The Role of Cognitive Empathy on Adolescents’ Phubbing During Pandemic Covid-19

During the Covid-19 pandemic, various activities, including the learning process, have shifted to digital platforms. This is a serious concern because teenagers interact more easily with smartphones than pay attention to other people during social interactions, which is called "phubbing". The purpose of this study was to examine the role of cognitive empathy in phubbing among adolescents who use social media. By using the volunteer sampling (opt-in) panel technique, a total of 398 respondents (aged 16-21) were taken part in this study. Respondents filled out two instruments, namely the Phubbing Scale (10 items), the Basic Empathy Scale (9 items). There is an effect of cognitive empathy on phubbing in adolescent social media users, with a contribution value of 38%. The results showed there was a gender difference, with girls reporting higher levels of phubbing and cognitive empathy than boys. This study is the first to provide empirical evidence on the role of cognitive empathy for phubbing on social media among adolescents. This highlights the importance of efforts to indulge our culture as our national identity to stop phubbing becoming the new norm in society, including the younger generation.

Empathy and repeat offending of young offenders in Argentina

ABSTRACT Low empathy is an important psychological construct for understanding persistent criminal and antisocial behavior. In this study the affective empathy (the capacity to experience the emotions of others) and cognitive empathy (the capacity to understand the emotions of others) of 100 young male offenders (aged 16-17) in Buenos Aires was assessed using the Basic Empathy Scale. The level of empathy of young offenders who were repeat offenders (N=49) was then compared to one-time offenders (N=51). In addition, data on family criminality, school achievement and socioeconomic status was also obtained for both groups. The results showed that repeat offenders had significantly lower affective and cognitive empathy, and that these relationships held independently of the other related factors. These findings suggest that low empathy may be an important explanatory factor for repeat offending of juveniles in Argentina, and therefore may be a useful target for interventions designed to reduce repeat offending

The empathy questionnaire for children and adolescents (EmQue-CA) in Chinese: Psychometric properties and measurement invariance.

The current study aimed to evaluate the reliability and validity of the Chinese version of the EmQue-CA, as well as the measurement invariance across gender. A sample of 1107 students (498 boys and 609 girls) enrolled in fourth grade to twelfth grade (Mage = 13.29; SD = 2.22) participated in the current study. Results indicated that the Chinese version had a similar three-factor model with two items deleted from the original form. The reliability, including internal consistency and test-retest reliability, of the Chinese version of the EmQue-CA was acceptable. Concurrent validity was assessed by examining the correlations of the EmQue-CA with the Basic Empathy Scale and the prosocial behavior subscale of the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire, with significant associations delivered. The results of convergent validity demonstrated strong correlations of the EmQue-CA subscales with callous unemotional traits and bullying. For the measurement invariance across gender, configural invariance and metric invariance were supported by the data, while scalar invariance failed. Overall, the EmQue-CA is a valuable tool for assessing empathy in Chinese children and adolescents.

Empathy and Defender Role in Bullying at School: Student-Teacher Relationship as Mediator

Introduction. Although much research has shown strong relationship between empathy and defender role, less is known about how student-teacher relationship mediated those variables. Our main hyphotesis was to reveal whether the student-teacher relationship could be mediating the effect of affective and cognitive empathy on the defender role in bullying at school. Method. A total of 311 participants were selected from 2 secondary schools in south Jakarta. Students refer to grade 7-8 with ranged in age from 13 to 15 years (Mage = 13.64; SD = .713). There were four instruments used: The Basic Empathy Scale to measure affective and cognitive empathy, Behaviors During Aggressive Episodes and Student Bystander Behavior Scale to measure defender role, and Student Per- ception of Affective Relationship with Teacher Scale. Results. The results revealed both affective and cognitive empathy were found having a positive effect on defender role in bullying situation among junior high school stu- dents. However, cognitive empathy was found positively stronger on defender role rather than affective empathy. Furthermore, student-teacher relationship only partially mediated the effect both affective and cognitive empathy on defender role. Discussion and Conclusion. These findings emphasized the urgency of comprehensive program to create defender by enhancing empathy and positive student-teacher rela- tionship to inhibit bullying behavior at schools.

Empathy and Motivation to Control Prejudiced Behaviour among College Students

This study was conducted on college students in India and its main objective was to find a relationship between Empathy and Motivation to Control Prejudiced Behaviour. The study also evaluated the gender differences in the study between males and females. The study was conducted on 122 students, out of which, 49.2% were female, 41% males, and 9.8% trans/non-binary. The tools used in this study was The Basic Empathy Scale in Adults (BES-A), by Jolliffe & Farrington, 2006, and Measure of Motivation to Control Prejudiced Behavior, by Dunton, B. C., & Fazio, R. H. (1997), and the tests were administered through online questionnaires. Most of the participants belonged to urban and semi-urban regions and came from middle-income groups. The results of the study found that there was a significant relationship between empathy and motivation to control prejudice. The study also showed that there was a gender difference in empathy and motivation to control prejudice as females were more empathetic and had higher motivation to control prejudice as opposed to their male counterparts. Trans/non-binary student data were excluded from this study. There were challenges faced while selecting an appropriate tool for this study as it hasn’t been studied in the Indian context as much. The study implied that females were more empathetic and less likely to engage in prejudiced behaviors when compared to their male counterparts. Overall, the study was a great learning experience in the understanding of how an individual’s emotional skill can be related to a negative social cognition in society.

Treatment with Methylphenidate Improves Affective but Not Cognitive Empathy in Youths with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder.

Background: Beside the core symptoms, patients with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) frequently show relevant difficulty in developing relationships with peers. Although ADHD symptoms may account for social impairment, deficits in cognitive and/or affective empathy have also been involved. Our aim was to investigate the effect of methylphenidate (MPH) treatment on affective and cognitive empathy. Methods: Sixty-one drug-naïve youths with ADHD (age range 6 to 17 years, mean 10.3 ± 2.8 years, 51 males) naturalistically treated with MPH monotherapy were followed up for 6 months for ADHD symptoms and empathy, measured with the Basic Empathy Scale. Results: After being treated with MPH, the patients showed a significant improvement in affective and cognitive empathy scores. Linear regression models showed that changes in inattention symptoms predicted changes in affective but not in cognitive empathy, while changes in the hyperactivity/impulsivity symptoms did not predict changes in affective or cognitive empathy. Conclusions: Our study provides a further contribution for a better understanding of the possible effects of the MPH on youth’s characteristics.

Pelatihan empati untuk mengurangi intensitas perilaku bullying pada remaja

Cases of bullying that happens in school are conducted indirectly, whether its verbally, or even physically. One of the triggers of a student behaved bullying is the low empathy. The purpose of this research is to examining whether increasing empathy training can reduce the intensity of bullying behavior. This research used an experimental quantitative approach with a pretest-posttest control group design and quasi experimental design with subjects of 6 students for the experimental group and 6 students for the control group. This research was conducted at one school in the Malang. This instrument used Olweus Bullying Scale and Basic Empathy Training with data analysis using the Wilcoxon test and the mann-withney test. The result of the Wilcoxon test indicates there is a difference in empathy after empathy training with a sig 0.028 and bullying behavior obtained a sig 0.028. This point directly proportional to the results of the mann-whitney bullying behavior in the two groups sig 0.004. Based on these results it indicates empathy training significantly reducing the intensity of bullying behavior.

Self-disclosure, empathy and anxiety in nurses.

This study aimed to examine the relationship between self-disclosure, empathy, and anxiety in nurses. The study was conducted with 255 nurses working in hospitals in Turkey. Data were collected using a Sociodemographic Form, the Self-Disclosure Scale (SDS), the Basic Empathy Scale (BES), and the Spielberger State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI). A statistically significant positive relationship was found among the SDS, BES, and Spielberger STAI. Psychiatric nurses should ensure the reduction of nurses' anxiety levels by planning different interventions such as psychotherapy, counseling, and training. They may determine nurses' self-disclosure and empathy skills as well as their needs.