The Teaching of Empathy for High School and College Students: Testing Rogerian Methods with the Interpersonal Reactivity Index
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
Winter 1994
Abstract
The teachability of empathy is discussed with particular regard to developmental issues. One hundred and four high school and college students were administered Davis's (1980) Interpersonal Reactivity Index (IRI) both before and after a standard course of Rogerian-based peer facilitation skills training. The IRI offers four independent subscales which measure the cognitive and affective components of empathy. Statistically significant findings indicate greater developmental readiness for learning empathic communication in the college sample, particularly for subscales measuring Empathic Concern and Perspective Taking. A group of untrained college students taking a course in behavioral psychology showed no progress on any IRI subscales. Although college females began with higher empathy scores, both genders were equally teachable. Implications for prevention and counseling readiness are discussed, along with suggestions for future research.
Was this content written or created while at USF?
No
Citation / Publisher Attribution
Adolescence, v. 29, issue 116, p. 961-974
Scholar Commons Citation
Hatcher, Sherry L.; Nadeau, Missi S.; Walsh, Lisa K.; Reynolds, Meredith; Galea, Jerome T.; and Marz, Kaye, "The Teaching of Empathy for High School and College Students: Testing Rogerian Methods with the Interpersonal Reactivity Index" (1994). Social Work Faculty Publications. 69.
https://digitalcommons.usf.edu/sok_facpub/69
