Empathic Processes Research Articles

Conflict between relationally uncertain romantic partners: the influence of relational responsiveness and empathy

The management of conflict in close dating relationships was examined through a relational competence model. This model of competence emphasizes the need for appropriate and effective behaviors. The current study explored appropriateness by assessing relational messages that are prescriptively expected during conflict, the association between relational responsiveness and communication satisfaction, and the influence of empathic processes on relational responsiveness for couples who were relationally uncertain (i.e., contemplated breaking-up). Findings indicate that people expect their relational partners to convey messages of affiliation and non-dominance during disagreements of important issues. The results also reveal that behaving in ways that meet or positively exceed expectancies are associated with more satisfaction. This is especially true for dominance. Finally, the evidence suggests that empathy is not for everyone. Attempts at being more empathic can result in less relational responsiveness.

A model of empathic understanding and adherence to treatment regimens in practitioner-patient relationships

Empathic understanding in practitioner relationships is postulated as necessary for adherence to therapeutic regimens. It is considered to be one of the most important practitioner relationship skills leading ultimately to patient health benefit. Research literature from a wide-range of health disciplines including personality theory, social psychology, psychotherapy, psycho-analysis, and practitioner-patient communication highlights the key role of empathic processes in personal health care. A model of empathic understanding is described which attempts to integrate the substantive findings in the research literature and seeks to generate new ideas for further investigation. The model addresses theoretical relationships between practitioners' empathic understanding, patients' knowledge of their illness and motivation to get better, adherence to treatment advice, and outcome. Recent work on the selection and training of medical and nursing staff in empathic skills is reviewed. A number of areas for future research are outlined including the effect of individual practitioner differences in the components of empathy, empathic compatibility in practitioner-patient dyads, fluctuations in levels of practitioner empathy during long-term care, specific practitioner behaviours which communicate empathy, and the relationship between factors of patient satisfaction and the perception of empathic understanding.

Using Drama to Persuade

Television ads can be classified as either arguments or dramas or hybrids of these forms. We claim that form dimension influences how ads are processed. An argument backs its claims with appeals to objectivity and is processed evaluatively. A drama appeals more to subjective criteria and is processed empathically. A study is reported in which 40 television commercials were classified on a dramatization scale. They were shown to 1,215 people, and measures of evaluative and empathic processing were taken. The measures were found to be weighted differently for arguments and dramas, supporting the contention that form influences processing.

Empathy and biased assimilation of testimonies in cases of alleged rape.

This article examines the relationship between rape empathy and evaluations of attacker culpability. Empathy was defined as a score on the Rape Empathy Scale (RES) and whether or not subjects had previous experience with a rape victim. Summaries of the testimonies from a rape trial were presented to subjects recruited through media advertisement in a midwestern community. Ratings of responsibility were made prior to and following each summary. Although RES score was not related to participants' attributions, personal knowledge of rape victims was predictive. All participants increased their attributions of responsibility after reviewing the complainant's testimony, the first direct examination in the case for the prosecution. The ratings of participants who were acquainted with a victim remained elevated across all judgments while the subjects unacquainted with a victim lowered their attributions. At the conclusion of the transcripts the victim-acquainted subjects were more likely to find the defendant guilty of forcible rape. These findings provide evidence for two types of empathic processes, one of which appears to be involved in biased assimilation of trial evidence.

Empathic processes: perception by medical students of patients' anxiety and depression.

Perceptions by medical students of patients' affective states were investigated, and the effect of the students' own emotions on such perceptions. One hundred and one fourth-year medical students rated the levels of anxiety and depression of three women patients presented on videotape, rated their own levels of anxiety and depression and completed a questionnaire on aspects of the rating process. Students had widely different and often inappropriate perceptions of patients' levels of anxiety and depression. Students who consistently overrated anxiety or depression in patients, compared to those who consistently underrated, were themselves significantly more anxious or depressed. These data suggest a need in medical education for systematic teaching of empathic skills and for recognition of potential bias in clinical decision-making arising from the clinician's own emotional state.

Empathy and psychoanalytic technique.

I have attempted to review the major psychoanalytic contributions to our understanding of empathy within the psychoanalytic situation. In doing so, I have discussed the relation between empathy and identification, reviewed aspects of the metapsychology of analytic comprehension, and have described the role of the analyst's evenly hovering attention in empathic responsiveness, as noted by several analytic investigators of empathy. The interrelations between empathy and countertransference have been described, and neutrality issues as they relate to empathy have been noted. Certain themes around the development of empathy have been grouped together and critically examined. The work of Kohut with regard to empathy has been discussed in relation to earlier psychoanalytic contributions of which it is an outgrowth and expansion. The changes in meaning and emphasis of empathic processes in Kohut's works have been described and critically reviewed. Empathy in its popular usage refers to the capacity of one person to communicatively partake, in a limited way, in the experience of another. In its differentiation from sympathy and pity, its noncritical or value-neutral character is emphasized. This description of empathy indicates its relevance to psychoanalytic technique, which shares many similar characteristics. Empathy is a general or superordinate term for many more specific aspects of the sensitive interpersonal interactions in the intimacy of relationships like the psychoanalytic one. Attempts to assign a particular psychoanalytic technical meaning to empathy or build clinical and developmental theory around empathy are limited by the multiple referents and generality of the concept. Empathy as a term has its place as descriptive of the analyst's emotional relatedness to the patient. It does not refer to any specific psychoanalytic technical intervention or theoretical construct; rather, it describes in a general way the sensitive, tactful, and experience-near way in which the analyst approaches the inner life of his patients.

High and low self‐monitoring individuals: Their decoding skills and empathic expression

AbstractAn investigation was conducted into the relation between self‐monitoring and the ability to interpret vocal expression and to communicate empathy in a dyadic interaction. In the first part of the study, participants who had completed Snyder's Self‐Monitoring (SM) Scale were tested for their ability to interpret the intended meaning in 20 recorded sentences in which the speaker, by changing voice Intonation, inflection, and affective presentation, conveyed a particular meaning to each sentence (Inferred Meanings Test). In the second part of the study, each participant was asked to submit a 3‐minute segment of an audio tape that best demonstrated his or her empathic expression in a dyadic interaction. The tapes were transcribed and raters judged each transcript for the participant's verbal expression of empathy and genuineness. The results showed a significant positive relation between self‐monitoring and the ability to decode vocal cues correctly. This finding appears to support the claim that high self‐monitoring individuals are better able than are low self‐monitoring individuals to interpret the vocal expression of others. When self‐monitoring scores were correlated with the ratings of the participants’ tapes for empathy/genuineness, a significant inverse relation was found. Thus, high self‐monitoring individuals appeared less able to impress raters as being genuinely empathic. The results of the study are discussed in the context of self‐monitoring and its relation to the ability to interpret others’ emotional expression as well as the relation of self‐monitoring to empathic processes.

Motivational Interviewing with Problem Drinkers

Motivational interviewing is an approach based upon principles of experimental social psychology, applying processes such as attribution, cognitive dissonance, and self-efficacy. Motivation is conceptualized not as a personality trait but as an interpersonal process. The model deemphasizes labeling and places heavy emphasis on individual responsibility and internal attribution of change. Cognitive dissonance is created by contrasting the ongoing problem behavior with salient awareness of the behavior's negative consequences. Empathic processes from the methods of Carl Rogers, social psychological principles of motivation, and objective assessment feedback are employed to channel this dissonance toward a behavior change solution, avoiding the “short circuits” of low self-esteem, low self-efficacy, and denial. This motivational process is understood within a larger developmental model of change in which contemplation and determination are important early steps which can be influenced by therapist interventions. A schematic diagram of the motivational process and a six-step sequence for implementing motivational interviewing are suggested.

Research on the supervisory process. I. Supervisor's appraisal of the interview data.

SUPERVISION of psychotherapeutic interviews is founded on the premise that the data-gathering skills of the interviewer and the data presented are sufficient to enable the supervisor to develop valid constructions pertaining to the patient's clinical status. The model of supervision which uses reports given by the interviewer assumes that while therapists exhibit varied reactions to the material of the interview, observation by the supervisor of both the interviewer's reporting style and manner and the patient material presented will yield the essence of the patient's difficulties. It is, of course, a feature in the development of a therapist that over time his empathic and cognitive processes will become enhanced, so that his reflections of the therapy interview will become clearer to the supervisor. Supervision in the classical sense always includes these considerations; namely, that through the web of the therapist's distortions