Current Status of Empathy among Students at Higher Education Level
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.53983/ijmds.v15n03.001Keywords:
Empathy, Higher Education Students, Gender, Socio-emotional SkillsAbstract
The present study examined the status of empathy among students at the higher education level. A descriptive survey method was adopted. The sample consisted of 153 students from Jadavpur University and Vidyasagar University in West Bengal, selected through random sampling. A self-made standardized Empathy Measurement Scale with 25 items on a five-point Likert scale was used for data collection. Descriptive statistics, t-test, and one-way ANOVA were applied for analysis. The results showed that the overall mean empathy score was 98.33 (SD = 13.63), indicating a moderate level of empathy among students. No significant difference was found in empathy with respect to caste and number of siblings. However, a significant gender difference was observed, where female students showed higher empathy than male students. The study highlights the importance of promoting empathy and socio-emotional skills among higher education students.
References
[1] Baron-Cohen, S. (2003). The essential difference: Male and female brains and the truth about autism. New York, NY: Basic Books.
[2] Batson, C. D. (2009). These things called empathy: Eight related but distinct phenomena. In J. Decety & W. Ickes (Eds.), The social neuroscience of empathy (pp. 3–15). Cambridge, MA: MIT Press. DOI: https://doi.org/10.7551/mitpress/9780262012973.003.0002
[3] Davis, M. H. (1983). Measuring individual differences in empathy: Evidence for a multidimensional approach. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 44(1), 113–126. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.44.1.113 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.44.1.113
[4] Eisenberg, N., & Miller, P. A. (1987). The relation of empathy to prosocial behavior. Psychological Bulletin, 101(1), 91–119. https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-2909.101.1.91 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-2909.101.1.91
[5] Gerdes, K. E., Segal, E. A., & Lietz, C. A. (2011). Conceptualizing and measuring empathy. British Journal of Social Work, 41(2), 232–247. https://doi.org/10.1093/bjsw/bcq048 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/bjsw/bcq048
[6] Goleman, D. (1995). Emotional intelligence: Why it can matter more than IQ. New York, NY: Bantam Books.
[7] Hoffman, M. L. (2000). Empathy and moral development: Implications for caring and justice. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511805851
[8] Konrath, S. H., O’Brien, E. H., & Hsing, C. (2011). Changes in dispositional empathy in American college students over time: A meta-analysis. Personality and Social Psychology Review, 15(2), 180–198. https://doi.org/10.1177/1088868310377395 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/1088868310377395
