Ethnocultural empathy

About: Ethnocultural empathy is a research topic. Over the lifetime, 85 publications have been published within this topic receiving 10108 citations.

Measuring individual differences in empathy: Evidence for a multidimensional approach.

Abstract: To facilitate a multidimensional approach to empathy the Interpersonal Reactivity Index (IRI) includes 4 subscales: Perspective-Taking (PT) Fantasy (FS) Empathic Concern (EC) and Personal Distress (PD). The aim of the present study was to establish the convergent and discriminant validity of these 4 subscales. Hypothesized relationships among the IRI subscales between the subscales and measures of other psychological constructs (social functioning self-esteem emotionality and sensitivity to others) and between the subscales and extant empathy measures were examined. Study subjects included 677 male and 667 female students enrolled in undergraduate psychology classes at the University of Texas. The IRI scales not only exhibited the predicted relationships among themselves but also were related in the expected manner to other measures. Higher PT scores were consistently associated with better social functioning and higher self-esteem; in contrast Fantasy scores were unrelated to these 2 characteristics. High EC scores were positively associated with shyness and anxiety but negatively linked to egotism. The most substantial relationships in the study involved the PD scale. PD scores were strongly linked with low self-esteem and poor interpersonal functioning as well as a constellation of vulnerability uncertainty and fearfulness. These findings support a multidimensional approach to empathy by providing evidence that the 4 qualities tapped by the IRI are indeed separate constructs each related in specific ways to other psychological measures.

Empathy and Attitudes: Can Feeling for a Member of a Stigmatized Group Improve Feelings Toward the Group?

Abstract: Results of 3 experiments suggest that feeling empathy for a member of a stigmatized group can improve attitudes toward the group as a whole. In Experiments 1 and 2, inducing empathy for a young woman with AIDS (Experiment 1) or a homeless man (Experiment 2) led to more positive attitudes toward people with AIDS or toward the homeless, respectively. Experiment 3 tested possible limits of the empathy-attitude effect by inducing empathy toward a member of a highly stigmatized group, convicted murderers, and measuring attitudes toward this group immediately and then 1-2 weeks later. Results provided only weak evidence of improved attitudes toward murderers immediately but strong evidence of improved attitudes 1-2 weeks later.

The current state of empathy research

Abstract: The literature on empathy, primarily from counseling and psychotherapy and secondarily from social and developmental psychology, is reviewed. Obstacles that may account for theoretical confusions and empirical difficulties in studying empathy are highlighted. The decrease in empathy research in recent years appears attributable to the lack of clear focus and effective research tools as well as the shift in interest from empathy to other concepts such as the working alliance. It is argued that there is a need to return to studying empathy. Researchers should distinguish between dispositional and experiential empathy and between intellectual empathy and empathic emotions and indicate whether they are examining therapist or client experience of empathy. Suggestions for future research are offered.

The Scale of Ethnocultural Empathy: Development, Validation, and Reliability

Abstract: Summary and Overall Discussion The purpose of this study was to develop a scale to quantita-tively and effectively measure the construct of ethnocultural em-pathy. On the basis of a review of the literature, ethnoculturalempathy as a construct was derived from definitions of generalempathy, multiculturalism, and cultural empathy. Our effort tocreate a three-factor scale was partially supported by the results ofthe factor analysis. Although there are parallels between the in-tended definition of the three factors and the final results, the factoranalysis revealed the presence of a fourth factor. The factorscontributed to the amount of variance accounted for by the scale inthe following order, from strongest to weakest: Empathic Feelingand Expression, Empathic Perspective Taking, Acceptance of Cul-tural Differences, and Empathic Awareness. The four-factor solu-tion suggests that there are four distinct components underlyingscores on the SEE.The four factors of the SEE closely replicate the theoreticalconstructs of empathy found in the literature and bring new un-derstanding to the construct of ethnocultural empathy. Duan andHill (1996) suggested that the concept of general empathy consistsof two components: empathic emotions and intellectual empathy.The most comprehensive model of cross-cultural empathy, dis-cussed by Ridley and Lingle (1996), includes communicativeempathy in addition to the similar emotional and intellectualaspects. The four factors revealed in the present study not onlysupport the existence of the emotional, intellectual, and commu-nicative aspects of ethnocultural empathy but also suggested thatthe components of ethnocultural empathy may be more compli-cated than has been conceptualized in the existing literature (i.e.,there may be more than three components). For example, theintellectual aspect of ethnocultural empathy may encompass one’sperspective taking and awareness toward racial and ethnicdifferences.Table 5Univariate Analyses of Variance on Racial Differences in SEE Subscale Scores