Empathy in history. Understanding a past institution (ordeal) in children and young adults when description and rationale are provided

A total of 150 students, from 8 to 25 years, were interviewed about ordeal¹ in the Middle Ages, after reading a shorter and simplified version of a text used in previous research on this topic (e.g., [Lee, P. J., & Ashby, R. (2001). Empathy, perspective taking, and rational understanding. In O. L. Davis, Jr., S. Foster, & E. Yaeger (Eds.), Historical empathy and perspective taking in the social studies (pp. 21–50). Lanham: Rowman and Littleffeld]). Unlike previous studies, at all ages nearly all students understood that ordeal involved the intervention of God, and was related to religious beliefs different from the present. With age, there was an increase in the number of students also referring to the backwardness of the Middle Ages, or stating that at least some Medieval peoples did not expect ordeal to be decisive about the guilt or innocence of an accused, using it instead to find a culprit in any case, or as a punishment or deterrent.     

Teaching empathic concern and altruism in the smartphone age

Numerous studies show empathic concern promotes altruistic motivation and prosocial behavior. Here, we discuss empathic concern, its relation to altruistic motivation, and how empathic concern is invoked in experimental studies. We do this with an eye toward applying laboratory techniques in the classroom, and everyday life, to foster empathic concern and altruistic responding. This goes beyond teaching about empathic concern to setting up conditions that help people experience this psychological state, and its benefits, firsthand. Smartphone-based ecological momentary interventions (EMIs) can help us do this by raising self- and other-awareness, and by promoting empathic states and practices in daily life. While smartphones often pull us away from direct personal interaction, we explore ways of using these devices to redirect our attention to those around us. We end by suggesting that these ways of helping people regularly experience and act upon empathic concern in daily life might help nurture a compassionate disposition.     

Learning science in an era of globalization: a phenomenology of the foreign/strange

In this study, we propose a set of concepts for conceptualizing issues of learning science related to globalization, the encounter with the (radically) foreign/strange—as this occurs as part of migration and even as part of the encounter of a learner with the unknown content that science lessons are to impart—from the perspective of the experiencing person and the experience. We take an approach to the question of the foreign/strange that is grounded in philosophies of difference, which have emerged in continental Europe, and which make use of advances in phenomenology, dialectics, and materialism. We draw on ethnographic work in one undergraduate physics course at a Canadian university, where we followed in particular one female Japanese student, who had come to this country for the purpose of getting a degree. As an entry point and as source of empirical materials, we draw on our own auto/ethnographic experience that brings particular advantages to ally pathos to the experience of the foreign/strange, something is happening to (affecting) us that is beyond all experience, understanding, and anticipation. We articulate three phenomenological aspects that pathos (empathy) allows us to understand concerning the experience of the foreign/strange and then provide an exemplary and exemplifying analysis.

Students Abroad Studying Their Own Thing

Abstract

This paper defines teacher empathy, argues that teacher empathy enhances student learning, and offers suggestions for increasing teacher empathy. Teacher empathy is the degree to which an instructor works to deeply understand students’ personal and social situations, to feel care and concern in response to students’ positive and negative emotions, and to respond compassionately without losing the focus on student learning. Teacher empathy is communicated to students through course policies as well as the instructor’s behavior toward students. To increase teacher empathy, we review non-pejorative explanations for undesirable student behavior (e.g., fear of failure), and we suggest ways in which faculty can learn about their students and can structure course policies to increase teacher empathy. Ultimately, we call for research on teacher empathy and student learning.     

The Effects of the Even-a-Few-Minutes-Would-Help Strategy,Perspective Taking,and Empathic Concern on the Successful Recruiting of Volunteers on Campus

This paper assessed the effectiveness of the application of the even-a-penny-helps strategy to recruiting volunteers by changing the wording to “even a few minutes would help.” The moderating, mediating, and direct impact of perspective taking and empathic concern were also investigated. Across conditions, the data (n = 55) were consistent with a model in which perspective taking leads to empathic concern, which in turn, leads to increased volunteering. Whereas more people volunteered (23%) in the even-a-few-minutes group than a direct request control group (14%), the difference was not statistically significant. The effectiveness of the even-a-few-minutes strategy, however, was moderated by perspective taking. The even-a-few-minutes strategy (50%) was substantially more effective than a direct request (5%) for individuals high in perspective taking but counterproductive (6% compliance vs. 33% in the control group) when used on people scoring low on perspective taking.     

Supportive Communication and the Adequate Paraphrase

The active listening paradigm recommends that helpers paraphrase the thoughts and feelings of support seekers. But how? This study compared evaluations of four types of paraphrase messages derived from the work of Polanyi. Results showed that certain forms of paraphrasing are evaluated as more helpful, sensitive, and supportive than others, though differences were not in full alignment with theoretical predictions, and results were dependent on narrative prompt. Our study provides initial empirical data that question the practical advice given to informal help providers found in our academic scholarship and textbooks. Formal and informal helping relationships have many similarities and differences that should be acknowledged and tested with a variety of methods and populations.     

Influence Tactics in the Classroom and Their Relationship to Student Satisfaction*

We argue that an instructor's use of influence tactics can be classified as soft, rational, and strong in nature and that the use of these tactics will have a differential impact on student satisfaction. We find support for the existence of the three categories of influence. We find that student satisfaction is positively influenced by the use of soft and rational tactics, but is uninfluenced by the use of strong tactics.     

Social Dominance Orientation: A root of resistance to intercultural dialogue?

Intercultural dialogue is a process central to creating a just social world. Despite this, people are often prejudiced against it. In order to better understand the nature of this antagonism, the present research investigated the role of Social Dominance Orientation as one potential source of resistance. Across three studies, the direct and mediated impact of SDO on both self-reported and behaviorally-indicated dialogic engagement was assessed. Results provide evidence that increasing levels of SDO encourage ideological beliefs and social evaluations that, in turn, prejudice participants against dialogue with an African-American woman. The significance of these results is discussed, along with suggestions for future research.     

Compassionate Communication in the Workplace: Exploring Processes of Noticing, Connecting, and Responding

This research contributes to the growing body of literature exploring emotion and communication in the workplace by considering the workers in a variety of jobs that require “compassionate communication.” Compassion is conceptualized as one form of emotional work and is theoretically developed through a model that highlights the subprocesses of noticing, feeling, and responding. Analyses of interviews with 23 workers in a wide range of human service jobs indicated a number of complexities in the communication of compassion in the workplace. Processes of “noticing” included both noticing the need for compassion and noticing details of clients' lives in order to communicate more successfully in compassionate ways. Processes of “connecting” included both emotional processes (empathy) and cognitive processes (perspective taking). Processes of “responding” included both nonverbal strategies, such as immediacy behaviors and environmental structuring, and verbal strategies for balancing the informational and emotional content of messages. These results are interpreted in the light of both contemporary and traditional communication theory, and practical implications are presented for human service workers and others involved in compassionate communication in the workplace.     

Building cultural empathy and deconstructing Whiteness in counselor education

Counselor training that does not attend to dynamics of cultural differences and oppression can run the risk of promoting false empathy that serves the voyeuristic purpose of the counselor rather than achieving accurate empathy for the client. In this article, we discuss the differences between true and false empathy and how Whiteness, racial identity and culture, and classroom dynamics can impact the ability to engage in cultural empathy development. We present a model for cultural empathy training that attends to each of these dynamics.