Empathy, others-concept, and prosocial orientation.
The relationship between 56 nursing students' empathy and their others-concept was investigated to establish ties to a broader construct, prosocial orientation. The female Caucasian nursing students were rated for empathy by two clinical instructors. They were also given the Paired Hands Test to assess their others-concept. The students with the higher empathy ratings had more positive others-concepts. The responses of the low empathy group to the Paired Hands Test indicated a much stronger tendency to perceive and interpret social interactions negatively. Besides practical implications for nurses and other helping professionals, these findings have theoretical ramifications as well. Others-concept has been shown previously to be related to a cluster of variables such as positive social behavior and moral judgment. Evidence of the relationship to empathy helps to tie this cluster to the prosocial orientation construct as a base for further research.
Fakouri
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Department of Educational Psychology, Indiana State University.
Zucker
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Fakouri
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D000328:Adult; D004645:Empathy; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007398:Interpersonal Relations; D009723:Nurse-Patient Relations; D010552:Personality Assessment; D012919:Social Behavior; D013338:Students, Nursing / Q000523:psychology*