Exploring Virtual Empathy versus Real-life Empathy among Undergraduate University Students across Five Faculties

Empathy is important for effective social interactions since it helps people understand others' feelings, thinking, and intentions, and therefore aids in predicting behavior (Baron Cohen & Wheelwright, 2004). Additionally, the capacity to understand and feel another's pain often leads to compassionate responses (Riess, 2017). Virtual empathy has been described as an important competence for promoting learning given the increasing use of online forums in education (Garcia-Perez, Santos-Delgado, & Buzon-Garcia, 2006). It is particularly important for students to cultivate empathy since it benefits not only them but their future place of work (Gentry, Weber, & Sadr, 2007; Lilius, Kanov, Gutton, Worline, Maitlis, 2013). The current study further seeks to explore any links between real world empathy and empathy expressed online. There is existing evidence to suggest that a person's online social activity is reflective of their personailty (Gosling, Augustine, Vazire, Holtzman,m& Gaddis, 2011). Similar to real world tendencies, extroverts had higher online social networking engagement than introverts, and openess and conscientiousness in online settings were also reflective of that in the real world (Gosling, Augustine, Vazire, Holtzman,m& Gaddis, 2011). Following thiis pattern of reasoning, one can assume that a person's virtual empathy levels might mirror their empathy levels in the real world, For this reason, the authors of this current study sought to determine whether online sociazl media usr had any impact on a person's capacity for empathy. With this background the objective of the current study to explore empathy on social media and in the real world among undergraduates from five faculties (Law, Engineering, Medical Sciences, Humanities, and Education, Science and Technology) at the University of the West Indies.

The assessment of empathy and the quality of interpersonal communication by standardized patients in an OSCE: an exploratory study [abstract]

Emphatic communication is a critical aspect of medical interviewing. While there are a number of theoretical perspectives on empathy, in the medical context Feignhny (1995) describes, empathy as, "a physician's cognitive capacity to understand a patient's needs, an affective sensitivity to a patient's feelings, and a behavioural ability to convey empathy to a patient". From this definition, the most direct and valid assessment of empathetic concern is likely to come from the patients own perspective. The development of empathy in students is critical in the provision of quality undergraduate medical attention. At the St. Augustine Campus of the Faculty of Medical Sciences, the skills laboratory programme has the responsibility for developing basic clinical competencies in medical students in years 1 to 3, including empathetic concern. However, as yet, there are no formal intervention programmes. A standardized patient (SP) programme is maintained in which a core of volunteers is trained to work with the students and to perform in the role of patient at the annual OSCE at the end of year 3. In the 1999 OSCE, the SPs were asked to assess the quality of the interpersonal communication of students. These ratings were compared with those of experts raters at key stations. In the 2000 OSCE, the study was expanded to include an assessment of empathy using the Adjective Check List. The key research questions for the study focused on the relationship between empathy and student individual characteristics and performance in traditional assessments. It was found that empathetic communication as practised in the OSCE and as assessed by the SPs was related to gender but unrelated to performance in traditional assessments in the Phase examinations and admission scores. There was evidence that students with high admission scores were likely to score lower in some aspects of empathy as perceived by the SPs. Recommendations for the development and assessment of attitudes are provided. Issues centring on design intervention programmes for developing empathetic concern in students are discussed. (AU)