Improving Perspective-Taking, Fantasy, Personal Distress and Empathic Accuracy of Students through the Socratic Dialogue Methods

It is generally accepted that empathy should be the basis of patient care. However, this ideal may be unrealistic if healthcare professionals suffer adverse effects when engaging in empathy. The aim of this study is to explore the effect of inferring mental states and different components of empathy (perspective-taking; empathic concern; personal distress) in burnout dimensions (emotional exhaustion; depersonalization; personal accomplishment). A total of 184 healthcare professionals participated in the study (23% male, Mage = 44.60; SD = 10.46). We measured participants’ empathy, the inference of mental states of patients, and burnout. Correlation analyses showed that inferring mental states was positively associated with perspective-taking and with empathic concern, but uncorrelated with personal distress. Furthermore, emotional exhaustion was related to greater levels of personal distress and greater levels of inferences of mental states. Depersonalization was associated with greater levels of personal distress and lower levels of empathic concern. Personal accomplishment was associated with the inference of mental states in patients, lower levels of personal distress, and perspective-taking. These results provide a better understanding of how different components of empathy and mental state inferences may preserve or promote healthcare professionals’ burnout.

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Empathic abilities and their mediators in Tunisian psychiatry trainees

The Journal of Mental Health Training Education and Practice ◽

10.1108/jmhtep-05-2020-0033 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 15 (6) ◽

pp. 317-330

Author(s):

Bochra Nourhene Saguem ◽

Zeineb Bouzaâbia ◽

Amel Braham ◽

Selma Ben Nasr

Keyword(s):

Social Support ◽

Emotion Regulation ◽

Perspective Taking ◽

Self Efficacy ◽

Empathic Concern ◽

Self Report ◽

Reactivity Index ◽

Professional Activity ◽

Personal Distress ◽

Content Type

Purpose The purpose of this paper was to assess empathy dimensions in Tunisian psychiatry trainees and to evaluate their relationship with relevant professional and extra-professional factors. Design/methodology/approach An online questionnaire survey was administered to the psychiatry trainees affiliated in the four faculties of medicine of Tunisia (n = 120). It comprised, in addition to sociodemographic and professional variables, the interpersonal reactivity index, a multidimensional instrument that evaluates perspective taking, empathic concern, personal distress and fantasy. Other self-report measures were used to assess emotion regulation, social support and self-efficacy. Data were analyzed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences. Findings The response rate was 71%. Descriptive statistics showed that personal distress’ scores were lower than the other empathy dimensions’ scores. Perspective taking scores were negatively correlated with emotion regulation difficulties. Personal distress scores were positively correlated with emotion regulation difficulties. Hierarchical regression analysis revealed that being an only child significantly contributed to perspective taking and having an extra-professional activity significantly contributed to less personal distress. Perceived stress, social support and having a master’s degree were significant predictors for empathic concern. Self-efficacy was a significant predictor of perspective taking, with emotion regulation difficulties mediating this relationship. Practical implications Interventions dedicated to improve psychiatry trainees’ empathy should focus not only on clinical practice and medical education but also on emotional support and recovery activities. Originality/value A unique feature of this study is the investigation of the potential impacts of emotion regulation difficulties and perceived self-efficacy on empathic abilities of psychiatry trainees.

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Religiosity and Psychotic Ideation in Stable Schizophrenia: A Role for Empathic Perspective-Taking

Behavioral Sciences ◽

10.3390/bs10020053 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 10 (2) ◽

pp. 53

Author(s):

Rosó Duñó ◽

Joan Carles Oliva ◽

Adolf Tobeña ◽

Diego Palao ◽

Javier Labad

Keyword(s):

Perspective Taking ◽

Empathic Concern ◽

Reactivity Index ◽

Psychotic Symptoms ◽

Regression Analyses ◽

Personal Distress ◽

Interpersonal Reactivity Index ◽

The Relationship

The relationship between religiosity and different components of empathy was explored in schizophrenia patients. A total of 81 stable schizophrenia patients and 95 controls from the nearby community completed self-reported questionnaires assessing religiosity and empathy (through the Interpersonal Reactivity Index, IRI). Patients with schizophrenia showed higher religiousness than controls and they presented less perspective-taking and empathic concern but increased personal distress in IRI scores. Regression analyses unveiled an association between religiosity and perspective-taking in schizophrenics after adjusting for age, gender, and psychotic symptoms. In conclusion, religiosity in patients with schizophrenia may be linked to variations in perspective- taking as a component of empathy.

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Alterations of empathy in mothers with a history of early life maltreatment, depression, and borderline personality disorder and their effects on child psychopathology

Psychological Medicine ◽

10.1017/s0033291719001107 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 50 (7) ◽

pp. 1182-1190 ◽

Cited By ~ 4

Author(s):

Katja Dittrich ◽

Felix Bermpohl ◽

Dorothea Kluczniok ◽

Catherine Hindi Attar ◽

Charlotte Jaite ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Borderline Personality Disorder ◽

Personality Disorder ◽

Perspective Taking ◽

Indirect Effects ◽

Early Life ◽

Child Psychopathology ◽

Child Behavior Checklist ◽

Borderline Personality ◽

Reactivity Index ◽

Personal Distress

AbstractBackgroundEarly life maltreatment (ELM), borderline personality disorder (BPD), and major depressive disorder (MDD) have been associated with empathy deficits in different domains. Lack of maternal empathy has also been related to child behavioral problems. As ELM, BPD, and MDD often co-occur, we aimed to identify dissociable effects on empathy due to these three factors. In addition, we aimed to investigate their indirect effects via empathy on child psychopathology.MethodsWe included 251 mothers with and without MDD (in remission), BPD and ELM and their children, aged 5–12. We used the Interpersonal Reactivity Index as a measure of empathy on four different dimensions (personal distress, empathic concern, perspective taking, and fantasy) and the Child Behavior Checklist as a measure of child psychopathology.ResultsHaving included all three factors (ELM, MDD, BPD) in one analysis, we found elevated personal distress in MDD and BPD, and lower levels of perspective-taking in BPD, but no effects from ELM on any empathy subscales. Furthermore, we found indirect effects from maternal BPD and MDD on child psychopathology, via maternal personal distress.ConclusionThe present study demonstrated the dissociable effects of maternal ELM, MDD, and BPD on empathy. Elevated personal distress in mothers with BPD and MDD may lead to higher levels of child psychopathology.

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Feeling at hospitals: Perspective-taking, empathy and personal distress among professional nurses and nursing students

Nurse Education Today ◽

10.1016/j.nedt.2013.01.010 ◽

2013 ◽

Vol 33 (4) ◽

pp. 334-338 ◽

Cited By ~ 12

Author(s):

Belén López-Pérez ◽

Tamara Ambrona ◽

Jennifer Gregory ◽

Eric Stocks ◽

Luis Oceja

Keyword(s):

Nursing Students ◽

Perspective Taking ◽

Personal Distress ◽

Professional Nurses

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T61. FEELINGS OF SHAME AND GUILT IN INDIVIDUALS AT ULTRA-HIGH RISK FOR PSYCHOSIS

Schizophrenia Bulletin ◽

10.1093/schbul/sbaa029.621 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 46 (Supplement_1) ◽

pp. S254-S255

Author(s):

Hye Yoon Park ◽

Eunchong Seo ◽

Se Jun Koo ◽

Eun Lee ◽

Suk Kyoon An

Keyword(s):

Regression Analysis ◽

High Risk ◽

Perspective Taking ◽

Cognitive Abilities ◽

Social Cognitive ◽

Linear Regression Analysis ◽

Reactivity Index ◽

Personal Distress ◽

Ultra High Risk ◽

Shame And Guilt

Abstract Background Self-conscious emotions, such as shame and guilt, play a key role in one’s thoughts and behaviors. Our study investigated how shame and guilt were different concerning multiple aspects of social cognitive abilities, and we evaluated the self-conscious emotions in individuals at ultra-high risk (UHR) for psychosis. Methods Firstly, one hundred and sixty-six healthy youths were assessed for shame and guilt using the test of self-conscious affect, for empathy using interpersonal reactivity index (IRI), and for Theory of Mind (ToM) ability using the ToM picture stories task. Multiple linear regression analysis was performed to predict shame and guilt from the social cognitive variables. Secondly, twenty-four UHR and 24 age- and sex-matched normal controls were compared for shame, guilt, empathy, and ToM ability. Results Results in healthy youths, regression analysis with shame revealed that fantasy (t=3.0, p=0.003, β=0.22) and personal distress (t=5.8, p<0.001, β=0.42) of IRI and affective ToM (t=2.0, p=0.044, β=0.14) were significant determinants. In the regression model of guilt, there were independent predictors including perspective taking (t=3.5, p=0.001, β=0.28) and empathic concern (t=2.1, p=0.040, β=0.17) of IRI and cognitive ToM (t=2.1, p=0.037, β=0.15). In UHR individuals, higher levels of shame (t=-2.4, p=0.021), fantasy (t=-2.3, p=0.028), and personal distress (t=-3.4, p=0.001) and lower levels of perspective taking (t=4.0, p<0.001) and cognitive ToM (t=4.2, p<0.001) were observed. Moreover, high levels of shame was correlated with increased personal distress (r=0.78, p<0.001) in UHR for psychosis. Discussion These findings suggest that empathy and ToM ability predict persons’ shame- or guilt-proneness in healthy youths, and heightened personal distress in UHR individuals may possibly influence the level of shame which could lead to socially maladjustment behaviors. Dealing with social cognitive function would be helpful for reparation to UHR individuals.

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Seeing and Feeling Your Way to Accurate Personality Judgments

Social Psychological and Personality Science ◽

10.1177/1948550617691097 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 8 (7) ◽

pp. 806-815 ◽

Cited By ~ 5

Author(s):

Douglas E. Colman ◽

Tera D. Letzring ◽

Jeremy C. Biesanz

Keyword(s):

Personality Trait ◽

Perspective Taking ◽

Empathic Concern ◽

Point Of View ◽

Previous Literature ◽

Systematic Research ◽

Personal Distress ◽

Personality Judgments ◽

Assumed Similarity ◽

Trait Judgment

Empathy, the practice of taking and emotionally identifying with another’s point of view, is a skill that likely provides context to another’s behavior. Yet systematic research on its relation with accurate personality trait judgment is sparse. This study investigated this relation between one’s empathic response tendencies (perspective taking, empathic concern, fantasy, and personal distress) and the accuracy with which she or he makes judgments of others. Using four different samples ( N = 1,153), the tendency to perspective take ( ds = .23–.27) and show empathic concern ( ds = .28–.42) were all positively related meta-analytically to distinctive accuracy, normative accuracy, and the assumed similarity of trait judgments. However, the empathic tendencies for fantasy and personal distress showed more complex patterns of relation. These findings are discussed in relation to previous literature, and in particular, why it is reasonable for empathy to be related to the accuracy of trait judgments.

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An Exploration of Empathy and Personality in Preservice Counselors

Journal of Counselor Practice ◽

10.22229/aee1222021 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 12 (2) ◽

pp. 1-27

Author(s):

Kathleen Kutsko ◽

◽

Roxanne Duviver ◽

Gina Oswald ◽

Adrianne Johnson

Keyword(s):

Perspective Taking ◽

Counselor Trainees ◽

Well Being ◽

Empathic Concern ◽

Clear Relationship ◽

Personal Distress ◽

Essential Ingredient ◽

Counseling Relationships ◽

The Impact ◽

The Relationship

Empathy allows individuals to care for the well-being of others and act with compassion. Research indicates that empathy is an essential ingredient for developing successful counseling relationships, leading to positive change for clients. Determining how empathy is related to personality provides counselors with valuable information for exploring the impact of personality on empathy in counselor trainees. To explore the relationship between empathy and personality among counselor trainees, the researchers compared scores on the MBTI® and the IRI. Results of this study suggest a clear relationship between personality and empathy and were similar to the findings of previous researchers. In addition, this study demonstrated that the MBTI® type preferences of extraversion, intuition, feeling and perceiving are significantly higher than introversion, sensing, thinking and judging on the various empathy scales, specifically in the areas of empathic concern, perspective taking, personal distress and fantasy. Implications were discussed for both counselor educators and practitioners.

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Experiencing organ failure in virtual reality: Effects of self- versus other-embodied perspective taking on empathy and prosocial outcomes

New Media & Society ◽

10.1177/1461444821993122 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 23 (8) ◽

pp. 2144-2166

Author(s):

Benjamin J Li ◽

Hye Kyung Kim

Keyword(s):

Virtual Reality ◽

Organ Failure ◽

Perspective Taking ◽

The Self ◽

The Other ◽

Prosocial Behaviors ◽

Kidney Donation ◽

Personal Distress ◽

Unique Capability

This study capitalizes on the unique capability of virtual reality (VR) to examine the efficacy of self- versus other-embodied perspective taking in promoting kidney donation in Singapore. The study used a 2 (self- vs other-embodied) × 2 (mirror vs photo presentation) between-subjects VR experiment ( N = 128), wherein participants played the role of a patient needing a kidney donation, either as themselves or as a typical organ-failure patient. Our findings showed that self-embodied perspective taking triggered self-oriented emotions (i.e. personal distress) and subsequently egoistic motivations that resulted in alternative prosocial behaviors (e.g. monetary donation, volunteering) than kidney donation. We found that embodying the other, rather than the self, had the practical benefit of inducing other-oriented emotions (i.e. empathy) and hence altruistic motivations that promoted kidney donation. This study clarified the conditions under which embodied perspective taking promoted different prosocial outcomes, and the specific mechanisms through which it achieved those outcomes.

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