Browsing by Subject "Empathy"
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Item A Didactic-Experiential Approach to Training Adolescents in Self-Disclosure and Empathy Skills(Texas Tech University, 1977-12) Haynes, Lynda A.Not Available.Item A follow-up study of a skills training approach to postdivorce adjustment(Texas Tech University, 1979-08) Goethal, Kurt GordonNot availableItem Acceptance and interpersonal functioning: testing mindfulness models of empathy(2009-08) Hoopes, Jonathan Bert; McCarthy, Christopher J.A study on the relationship of mindfulness to empathy was conducted with undergraduate students at a large southwestern university. Previous studies suggest that mindfulness may be related to empathy, but are inconclusive due to measurement and methodological limitations. A mindfulness construct that includes axioms related to intention, attention, and attitude is suggested for researching empathy, along with statistical models that include mediation. A multifactored measure of mindfulness was hypothesized to predict perspective taking and empathic concern empathy components, which in turn would mediate the relationship of mindfulness facets to individual and interpersonal outcomes. Study results suggest a relationship of mindfulness to perspective taking, but not to empathic concern. Results from the mediation procedures were not supportive of the theorized role of empathy in relation to mindfulness on individual and interpersonal outcomes. Implications and limitations to the study design and theory are discussed.Item Adjustment, Communication, and Empathetic Ability in Marriage(Texas Tech University, 1974-05) Hargrave, Larry DeanNot Available.Item Affecting violence : narratives of Los feminicidios and their ethical and political reception(2012-12) Huerta Moreno, Lydia Cristina; Robbins, Jill, 1962-; Domínguez Ruvalcaba, Héctor, 1962-; Arroyo, Jossianna; Chapelle-Wojciehowski, Hannah; Ravelo-Blancas, Patricia; Pia Lara, MariaIn Mexico there is an increasing lack of engagement of the Mexican government and its citizens towards resolving violence. In the 20th century alone events such as the Revolution of 1910, La Guerra Cristera, La Guerra Sucia, and most recently Los Feminicidios and Calderon’s War on Drugs are representative of an ethos of violence withstood and inflicted by Mexicans towards women, men, youth, and marginalized groups. This dissertation examines Los Feminicidios in Ciudad Juarez and the cultural production surrounding them: chronicles, novels, documentaries and films. In it I draw on Aristotle’s influential Nicomachean Ethics, Victoria Camps’ El gobierno de las emociones (2011), María Pía Lara’s Narrating Evil (2007), Vittorio Gallese’s and other scientists’ research on neuroscience empathy and neurohumanism, and socio-political essays in order to theorize how a pathos-infused understanding of ethos might engage a reading and viewing public in what has become a discourse about violence determined by a sense of fatalism. Specifically, I argue that narrative and its interpretations play a significant role in people’s emotional engagement and subsequent cognitive processes. I stress the importance of creating an approach that considers both pathos and logos as a way of understanding this ethos of violence. I argue that by combining pathos and logos in the analysis of a cultural text, we can break through the theoretical impasse, which thus far has resulted in exceptionalisms and has been limited to categorizing as evil the social and political mechanisms that may cause this violence.Item An empathic reading of the romantics(Texas Tech University, 1995-05) Bennett, Sue Elna BurgamyWhile Freud concentrated on libidinal repressions, especially those associated with the oedipal struggles of father-son relationships, Jung was more interested in shared repressions--repressions that transcend nationality and history. An inherent sexism, however, permeates the works of both men. The theories of Heinz Kohut, on the other hand, expand the findings of Freud and Jung in a more gender-equal way by focusing on empathic interrelationships. Some psychological approaches to literature fail to consider empathic responses of readers. Certain authors, however, expose repressive tendencies in their fictional characters, thus encouraging readers to recognize and acknowledge these repressions in themselves and in others. Blake, Coleridge, and the Shelleys attempted to blur gender distinctions in some of their works, especially when those distinctions impose limitations or prescribe behaviors. These Romantic authors expressed alternative visions of the world by turning their focus inward, exploring the repressed characteristics of the human psyche. Rather than accept the cultural personas of the time, they chose to examine aspects of the psyche which their culture tended to discredit, repress, or ignore. In the process, these writers anticipated certain trends in current feminist theory, which suggest that the terms "feminine" and "masculine" are adjectives describing culturally constructed traits rather than biologically conditioned ones. Cultural norms shape feminine and masculine identities. How a reader reacts to a literature that disrupts those norms is the focus of this study.Item An analysis of children's attitudes toward older adults(2003) Wishard, Debra Lee; Holahan, Carole K.Item Children learning from children of the past: a study of fifth graders' development of empathy with historical characters(2005) Geneser, Pamela Vivien Loomis; Field, Sherry L.Empathy with historical characters provides a gateway into the development of historical thinking in children. When young students look into the lives of other people, especially children who lived long ago, they are motivated to investigate facts that are relevant to understanding the context of the times and can begin to perceive aspects of the events from a historical perspective. A research study with fifth grade elementary students was conducted to determine how these students could develop historical thinking skills using both primary and secondary sources. The students engaged in a background study of the first French colony in the state of Texas, Fort Saint Louis, which existed from 1685 until 1689. The researcher and students focused on the lives of four French children who lived with Karankawa natives after the demise of the adult members of the settlement. Using information about the history of the French settlement, as well as literature that describes the experiences of other children who had lived with Native Americans, the group engaged in discussions about the saga of the Talon children. With this knowledge, the students prepared a script and produced the setting for a drama to share the story of the French colony with the student body. Tape recordings of the group discussions as well as interviews with the individual participants before and after the study comprise the data for analysis of the development of empathy. While the information is almost the same as in the textbook, students are more motivated to learn facts about an historical era when they are engaged in lessons that encourage active involvement. By participating in historical simulations, discussing the lives of children who lived with Native Americans and helping with the creation of a drama, the students were able to advance their historical thinking skills and to develop empathy with the historical characters.Item Cognitive, affective, and behavioral correlates of relationship satisfaction and commitment: a test of the investment model(Texas Tech University, 2001-05) Dowd, Duane AlanThis study examined the relationships between individual characteristics and components of the Investment Model. More-specifically, associations between cognitive (attributions and distressed partner thinking), affective (empathy and optimism), and behavioral (positive and negative socioemotional behaviors) factors and Investment Model components (rewards, costs, comparison level, alternatives, investments, and barriers) were tested. This study also examined whether the relationship between individual characteristics and marital quality (satisfaction and commitment) was mediated by the Investment Model components. A community sample of 226 married individuals completed questionnaires which assessed these individual characteristics, the Investment Model components and relationship quality. Factor analysis on the Investment Model components revealed a three factor solution that represented relationship benefits, detriments and hindrances. Benefits were negatively related to attributions, and positively related to optimism (for women) and positive behaviors (for men). Detriments r were positively related to attributions and to distressed partner thinking (for women), and negatively related to empathic concern (for women) and to positive behaviors (for men). Hindrances were positively related to empathic concern and to negative behaviors (for women). Regression analysis indicated that the relationship between (a) attributions and quality was fully mediated for men and women and (b) empathic concern and quality was partially mediated for men by the Investment Model factors. This research provided overall support for the mediational role of the Investment Model components, and suggested future directions for relationship research.Item The Compassion Scale(2010-12) Pommier, Elizabeth Ann; Neff, Kristin; Awad, Germine; Falbo, Toni; Steinhardt, Mary; Vaughn, BrandonThese studies define a Buddhist conceptualization of compassion and describe the development of the Compassion Scale. The definition of compassion was adopted from Neff's (2003) model of self-compassion that proposes that the construct entails kindness, common humanity, and mindfulness. The six-factor structure was adopted from the Self-Compassion Scale (2003) representing positively and negatively worded items of the three components proposed to entail compassion. The six-factors for compassion are named: kindness vs. indifference, common humanity vs. separation, and mindfulness vs. disengagement. Study 1 was conducted to provide support for content validity. Study 2 was conducted to provide initial validation for the scale. Study 3 was conducted to cross-validate findings from the second study. Results provide evidence for the structure of the scale. Cronbach's alpha and split-half estimates suggest good reliability for both samples. Compassion was significantly correlated with compassionate love, wisdom, social connectedness, and empathy providing support for convergent validity. Factor analysis in both samples indicated good fit using Hu & Bentler (1998) criteria. Results suggest that the Compassion Scale is a psychometrically sound measure of compassion. Given that Buddhist concepts of compassion are receiving increased attention in psychology (e.g. Davidson, 2006; Gilbert, 2005, Goetz, 2010) this scale will hopefully prove useful in research that examines compassion from a non-Western perspective.Item Constructing citizenship by telling tales : Anna Curtis Chandler's storytelling practices during the United States' involvement in World War I (1917-1918)(2016-05) Clark, Allison Marie; Bolin, Paul Erik, 1954-; Mayer, Melinda MThis study investigates how an art educator employed as a storyteller at the Metropolitan Museum of Art (Met) in New York City during the United States’ active military involvement in World War I engaged with ethics and issues of national identity on the American home front. By 1917, nearly a decade after Story Hours were introduced to the Museum by Assistant Secretary Henry Watson Kent, skilled orator Anna Curtis Chandler had begun to reimagine and expand the Met’s storytelling program. Divided into three primary components, the Story Hours welcomed Museum members on Saturdays, the general public on Sundays, and children on select weekdays. Moreover, Chandler broadened her storytelling activities to include written narratives, launching her career as an author with the seminal storybook, Magic Pictures of the Long Ago: Stories of the People of Many Lands, in 1918. An examination is made into the Met’s founding, early development, and educational endeavors leading up to and during the United States’ active military involvement in World War I. Additionally, an overview of Chandler’s background and impetus for creating stories rooted in empathetic engagement is presented. This study implements historical interpretation of archival data from the Metropolitan Museum of Art Archives and Wellesley College Archives, as well as a chapter from Chandler’s aforementioned storybook, Magic Pictures of the Long Ago, to unpack her educational agenda during this turbulent time period. Using substantiated and purposely grounded historical imagination, I argued that Chandler developed an alternative Americanization program that cemented audiences within the frame of democratic nationalism, supplied an imaginary escape from the War’s harsh realities, and invited audience members to (re)construct their identities as citizens.Item Emotional intelligence: implications for individual performance(Texas Tech University, 1998-08) Lam, Laura ThiVarious perspectiv-es on human emotions are a valuble, a majority of which still reflect the perception that "emotionality is the antithesis of rationality" (Asliforth & Humplirey, 1995, p. 97). However, there is one particidar conception of emotion that distinguishes itself from previous emotion theories and rapidly is gaining popularity—the existence of an emotional Intelligence (Salov ey & Mayer, 1989-1990). The role that emotional Intelligence plays upon individual performance is the present focus of examination. Despite evidence that components of emotional initelligence are associated with high performance for Bell Labs engineers (Kelley & Caplan, 1993) and Metlife Insurance agents (Seligman, 1990), the impact of emotional InteUigence per se on performance has not specifically been measured. With the recent development of a comprehensive emotional initelligence scale (Mayer, Caruso, & Salovey, 1997), it will be possible to investigate more thoroughly this new construct including its internal validity. This scale also allows for an analysis of the impact of emotional Intelligence on individual performance.Item Empathy : a proposed moderator to the relationship between Machiavellianism and social aggression in Hispanic and non-Hispanic children(2008-08) Reeves Washer, Shanna Raelene, 1979-; Sander, Janay BoswellSocial aggression is defined as a set of behaviors directed towards damaging another individual’s self-esteem or social status and may include direct forms such as verbal rejection, negative facial expressions or gestures, or more indirect means such as rumor spreading or social exclusion (Galen & Underwood, 1997). Previous research demonstrates that social aggression and self-reported empathy have a negative linear relationship, and that social aggression is positively correlated with the ability to effectively navigate varied social contexts (a subset of Machiavellianism, or a manipulative beliefs and strategies towards others; Wilson, Near, & Miller, 1996). Despite this evidence, few researchers have investigated the relationships among all three of these variables (empathy, social aggression, and social navigation) (Bjorkqvist, Osterman, & Kaukiainen, 2000; Kaukiainen et al., 1999). This study examines whether social aggression is correlated with Machiavellianism, or a manipulative orientation to others, and if this relationship is contingent upon the child’s self- reported level of empathy. It is hypothesized that children’s levels of Machiavellianism are related to the use of social aggression, but the strength of this relationship will vary according to level of empathy. Therefore, empathy is proposed to serve as a moderator of the relationship between Machiavellianism and social aggression. The investigator also conducted additional exploratory analyses using a portion of the sample identified by school records as Hispanic. The same relationships are explored with this portion of the sample to determine whether this population is unique with respect to these relationships. Using this portion of the sample, intercorrelations among the variables are reported as well. A sample of 280, nine- to 13-year-old students from a school district outside a metropolitan area participated. Each one completed instruments designed to measure social aggression, empathy, Machiavellianism, and acculturation. The results indicated that there was no linear relationship between Machiavellianism and social aggression, and further, there is no moderating effect of empathy. An exploratory analysis with Hispanic participants (n = 217) suggests the relationship between Machiavellianism and social aggression, and non-significant role of empathy as a moderator, do not differ for Hispanic and non-Hispanic participants. Interestingly, acculturation is positively correlated with social aggression and negatively correlated with empathy, suggesting that as children become more oriented to US culture, they are more likely to engage in social aggression and report lower overall levels of empathy. These findings contribute uniquely to the literature, and further, provide new information on these constructs using a Hispanic sample. Implications for intervention and future research are discussed.Item Empathy emerges : how social impairment and familiarity impact the development of empathy during the second year of life(2015-08) Dowd, Alexandra Catherine; Neal, A. Rebecca; Woolley, JacquelineThe ability to understand and share another’s feelings emerges within the first year of life in typically developing children. Impaired empathic responses, occurring early in development, such as those observed in young children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), can negatively impact subsequent social development. Understanding what individual and situational contexts contribute to successful empathic responses is crucial to understanding how these impairments manifest. The current study explores potential relations between early empathic responses to the distress of a social partner and: 1) early markers of social impairment, and 2) familiarity with person in distress. Infant siblings of children with (high-risk) and without (low-risk) ASD were assessed at 12 (n=29) and 15 (n=35) months, using the Autism Observation Schedule for Infants (AOSI) as a measure of social impairment. Infants' responses to both their mother and the experimenter feigning distress were also evaluated at 12 and 15 months. Individual differences in social impairment impacted infants' attention and affective responses at 15 months but not 12 months. While empathic responses increased for those with little to no social impairment, those with high social impairment were not making developmental gains over time. Infants attended more to the unfamiliar person (experimenter) in distress across 12 and 15 months. While infants displayed more affect for the familiar person in distress at 12 months, they responded similarly to both people at 15 months, suggesting that affective responses are generalizing to unfamiliar people over time. Implications of this research, such as early interventions, as well as limitations and future directions are discussed.Item Empathy in clinical dietitians and dietetic interns(Texas Tech University, 1987-05) Spraggins, Elizabeth FutcherThe major purpose of this research was to measure empathy in clinical dietitians and dietetic interns. These data were used to determine if empathy levels of clinical dietitians are affected by experience and/or education. Empathy is recognized as a valuable skill in the helping professions and, in this case, clinical dietetics and nutritional counseling. The information gained from this study is needed to assess the relevance of incorporating more empathic skills and communication training programs into dietetic and continuing education.Item Examining the therapeutic compliment with African-Americans: a counseling technique to improve the working alliance(2009-05-15) Duncan, Bryan ThomasThe working alliance has received consistent empirical support relating the construct to psychotherapy outcome. There is no empirical research on any particular techniques that may prove useful at increasing the level of working alliance. In this study, the therapeutic compliment is defined, discussed, and compared with other therapeutic interventions to find its usefulness in therapy and its ability to impact the working alliance. 120 African-Americans from a large southwestern university and a medium southeastern university participated in this study by viewing one of six mock therapy sessions that had one of three different interventions: Therapeutic Compliment, Simple Compliment, and Advanced Accurate Empathy. The mock sessions were created to provide two levels of session relationship (high and low). The participants completed three measures, the Working Alliance Inventory, Hopefulness Scale, and Accurate Empathy Scale, to determine the perceptions of the different interventions. The study utilized multiple analyses of variances (ANOVAs) to compare the means of the three interventions.Statistical significance was not found with overall general working alliance scores from the Working Alliance Inventory (WAI). The individual subscales of the WAI, goals, tasks, and bonds, however; did reveal significance when comparing the interventions across one level of the session relationship (high). The interventions were not statistically different from each other in terms of perceived hopefulness and empathy. No significance was found when comparing the interventions with perceived hopefulness of outcome or level of perceived empathy. The implications from this study include a first look at the use of complimenting in therapy and a first attempt to analyze a specific technique to create an influence on the working alliance. Further research is still needed to understand which techniques are more beneficial at creating an affect on the working alliance.Item Finding Lollius : empathy, textual knowledge, and the ending of Troilus and Criseyde(2014-05) Escandell, Jason Paul; Scala, Elizabeth, 1966-; Wojciehowski, HannahThe ending of Chaucer's Troilus and Criseyde has been a frequent source of dissatisfaction and confusion. After five full books centered on a doomed love between pagans, the final stanzas suddenly shift to an orthodox Christian rejection of worldly desire. Whether damning or praising the ending, critics generally recognize it as radically different from the lines preceding it. This report seeks to identify the root of that difference, and to explain its effect on the reading experience. The narrator of Troilus and Criseyde, a character in his own right, manipulates his putative source text--Lollius--to highlight the gaps left in his narrative. These gaps, in turn, constrict our perspective on the poem, preventing us from adopting either the Godlike Boethian viewpoint the Troilus appears to recommend or the melancholic attitude of the titular lovers. Instead, our point of identification is the narrator, who has read, as he persistently reminds us, a book that we cannot. Thus, even when the Troilus is read to the end, it feels incomplete. I ground this reading in both narratology and cognitive science, and illustrate it by examining two early printed "completions" of Chaucer's text: Wynkyn de Worde's colophon and Robert Henryson's Testament of Cresseid.Item How do empathy, effortful control, and middle school students’ perceptions and feelings about school affect their aggression? Examining moderation and mediation models of social-emotional learning and behavior(2014-08) Batanova, Milena Dentcheva; Loukas, Alexandra; Bartholomew, John; Cance, Jessica D; Crosnoe, Robert; Pasch, Keryn EAccording to the social and emotional learning (SEL) prevention framework, individual core competencies, the school environment, and students’ attachment or connectedness to the school play various roles in reducing their risky or problem behaviors, such as aggression. The current dissertation involved two studies testing various components of the SEL framework. Specific constructs of interest included individual competencies of social awareness (empathic concern and perspective taking) and self-management (effortful control), four mostly interpersonal aspects of school climate (perceived friction, cohesion, competition, and satisfaction with classes), school connectedness, and both overt and relational forms of aggression. Data were drawn from an existing prospective study of early adolescents, comprised of two waves with one year between each wave. Total participants were 500 10- to 14-year old students (54% female; 78% European American) who completed the first wave of a self-report survey in 6th and 7th grades. The first study examined the unique and interrelated effects of the individual competencies and perceptions of school climate on both subsequent forms of aggression across the one-year period. Study findings indicated that across gender, empathic concern was the only competency to reduce both overt and relational aggression one year later. None of the school climate perceptions made a unique contribution to subsequent aggression, nor did they show protective functions. Rather, several instances of cumulative advantage were observed, whereby positive school climate perceptions only reduced aggression for students who already had high levels of empathic concern. Unexpectedly, high levels of perceived cohesion among students contributed to higher levels of overt aggression for boys already high in effortful control. The second study then sought to examine school connectedness as a mediator that could further explain how students’ competencies and perceptions of school climate contribute to both forms of aggression. Although there were no mediation effects across gender, post-hoc analyses confirmed some hypotheses but raised questions regarding the direction and temporality of associations for others. Overall, the findings of both studies provide general support for some of the proposed relationships by the SEL framework and highlight the need for nuanced investigations when seeking to reduce different forms of aggression during middle school.Item Parental and religious influences on adolescent empathy and antisocial behavior among Latino and Euro-American youth: An investigation of mediating and moderating effects(2006-08) Gillett, Kyle S.; Bean, Roy A.; Bermúdez, Maria; Reifman, Alan; Harris, Steven M.Utilizing structural equation modeling, this research investigated the socialization variables of Parenting and Religiosity and their relationship with Adolescent Antisocial Behavior. The potential mediating and moderating effects that Empathy, Ethnicity, Socioeconomic Status (SES), Gender and Family Structure played in the relationship between the previously mentioned socialization variables and Antisocial Behavior were also explored. Findings suggest that Adolescent Religiosity and facilitative Parenting (high levels of Parental Support and Parental Behavior Control combined with low levels of Parental Psychological Control) both display significant unidirectional relationships with Adolescent Empathy and Adolescent Antisocial Behavior. It was further determined that Empathy did not mediate the relationship between socialization variables (Parenting and Adolescent Religiosity) and Adolescent Antisocial Behavior. In addition, Ethnicity, SES and Family Structure were shown to significantly moderate numerous pathways in the overall model. However, upon further investigation it was identified that very few moderated pathways were identified between the main latent factors in the model. Instead, it was identified that the relationships between many of the demographic variables and latent factors in the model displayed significant moderated pathways. Clinical implications are offered and the results of this study provide relevance to the profession of Marriage and Family Therapy as a whole.Item Parental and religious influences on adolescent empathy and antisocial behavior among Latino and Euro-American youth: an investigation of mediating and moderating effects(Texas Tech University, 2006-08) Gillett, Kyle S.; Bean, Roy A.; Reifman, Alan; Bermúdez, Maria; Harris, Steven M.Utilizing structural equation modeling, this research investigated the socialization variables of Parenting and Religiosity and their relationship with Adolescent Antisocial Behavior. The potential mediating and moderating effects that Empathy, Ethnicity, Socioeconomic Status (SES), Gender and Family Structure played in the relationship between the previously mentioned socialization variables and Antisocial Behavior were also explored. Findings suggest that Adolescent Religiosity and facilitative Parenting (high levels of Parental Support and Parental Behavior Control combined with low levels of Parental Psychological Control) both display significant unidirectional relationships with Adolescent Empathy and Adolescent Antisocial Behavior. It was further determined that Empathy did not mediate the relationship between socialization variables (Parenting and Adolescent Religiosity) and Adolescent Antisocial Behavior. In addition, Ethnicity, SES and Family Structure were shown to significantly moderate numerous pathways in the overall model. However, upon further investigation it was identified that very few moderated pathways were identified between the main latent factors in the model. Instead, it was identified that the relationships between many of the demographic variables and latent factors in the model displayed significant moderated pathways. Clinical implications are offered and the results of this study provide relevance to the profession of Marriage and Family Therapy as a whole.