Affiliation:
1. University of Novi Sad, Faculty of Philosophy Department of Psychology, Novi Sad, Serbia
Abstract
In accordance with the knowledge regarding the importance of empathy in
establishing of purposeful social relations, which are especially important
in the period of adolescence, research was conducted with the aim of
determining the structure of empathy at the adolescent age, as well as its
correlates in the domain of personality. The research included two studies
conducted on a sample of older primary school students. In the first study,
which included 255 adolescents (61.96% girls; M = 13.48 years), the focus of
the study was on examining the latent structure of the AMES translation into
Serbian, while the second study, which was conducted on 549 adolescents
(60.29% girls; M = 12.74 years) was aimed at testing the obtained three -
factor solution, as well as examining the relationship between compassion
and empathy, on the one hand, and personality dimensions from the Big Five
Plus Two Scale - version for children, on the other. The findings obtained
in the first study suggest the possibility of separate assessment of
cognitive and affective empathy, as well as compassion in adolescents. The
results of the correlation analysis indicate specific patterns of relations
between empathy/ compassion with personality dimensions, providing a basis
for a clearer understanding of the nature of cognitive and affective
empathy, as well as their role in the emergence of compassion as a key
determinant of prosocial behavior.
Publisher
National Library of Serbia
Subject
General Earth and Planetary Sciences,General Environmental Science