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Description
The purpose of this study was to examine whether dispositional sadness predicted children's prosocial behavior, and whether empathy-related responding (i.e., sympathy, personal distress) mediated this relation. It was hypothesized that children who were dispositionally sad, but well-regulated (i.e., moderate to high in effortful control), would experience sympathy versus personal distress, and thus would engage in more prosocial behaviors than children who were not well-regulated. Constructs were measured across three time points, when children were 18-, 30-, and 42-months old. In addition, early effortful control (at 18 months) was investigated as a potential moderator of the relation between dispositional sadness and empathy-related responding. Separate path models were computed for sadness predicting prosocial behavior with (1) sympathy and (2) personal distress as the mediator. In path analysis, sadness was found to be a positive predictor of sympathy across time. There was not a significant mediated effect of sympathy on the relation between sadness and prosocial behavior (both reported and observed). In path models with personal distress, sadness was not a significant predictor of personal distress, and personal distress was not a significant predictor of prosocial behavior (therefore, mediation analyses were not pursued). The moderated effect of effortful control was significant for the relation between 18-month sadness and 30-month sympathy; contrary to expectation, sadness was a significant, positive predictor of sympathy only for children who had average and low levels of effortful control (children high in effortful control were high in sympathy regardless of level of sadness). There was no significant moderated effect of effortful control on the path from sadness to personal distress. Findings are discussed in terms of the role of sadness in empathy-related responding and prosocial behavior as well as the dual role of effortful control and sadness in predicting empathy-related responding.
ContributorsEdwards, Alison (Author) / Eisenberg, Nancy (Thesis advisor) / Spinrad, Tracy (Committee member) / Reiser, Mark R. (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2012
How gender typicality moderates the relation between preadolescents' empathy and acceptance by peers
Description
Previous research has shown that highly empathic children are generally more emotionally positive, sociable, and altruistic compared to their less empathic peers (Miller & Jansen op de Haar, 1997). These traits and behaviors linked with empathy have been associated with positive outcomes such as popularity in the peer group (Decovic & Gerris, 1994). However, a negative relation between these constructs has been found when studied in the context of preadolescence for boys (Oberle, Schonert-Reichl, & Thomson, 2010), suggesting a potential moderating effect of gender typicality since empathy is classified as a communal and therefore stereotypically feminine trait. The current study examines the relation between the constructs of gender, empathy, gender typicality, and peer acceptance in a preadolescent sample, and mixed findings suggest differential effects of empathy on peer acceptance for preadolescent boys and girls. Future research should continue examining these differential effects for boys and girls throughout childhood and adolescence.
ContributorsPetersen, Shawna Michelle (Author) / Fabes, Richard A. (Thesis advisor) / Martin, Carol L (Committee member) / Miller, Cindy F (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2015
Description
“shiFT: An Exploration of Empathy” is a document detailing the process of
creating the evening length dance performance, “shiFT,” through the theoretical,
somatic, kinesthetic and choreographic research of empathy. This research specifically
addressed the ability to consciously take on an empathetic perspective and the change
that must occur within oneself to co-create empathy. It focused on the factors that
impede empathetic function and the role of vulnerability in experiencing empathy.
Throughout the creation of this concert, the choreographer employed empathy building
exercises and concentrated creative processes constructed from her research into the
neurological, emotional and physical aspects of empathy with a cast of ten dancers.
Choreographer and dancers worked collaboratively to create an empathetic
environment, a pre-show film installation titled GREY MATTER, and the culminating
evening length concert piece “shiFT.”
creating the evening length dance performance, “shiFT,” through the theoretical,
somatic, kinesthetic and choreographic research of empathy. This research specifically
addressed the ability to consciously take on an empathetic perspective and the change
that must occur within oneself to co-create empathy. It focused on the factors that
impede empathetic function and the role of vulnerability in experiencing empathy.
Throughout the creation of this concert, the choreographer employed empathy building
exercises and concentrated creative processes constructed from her research into the
neurological, emotional and physical aspects of empathy with a cast of ten dancers.
Choreographer and dancers worked collaboratively to create an empathetic
environment, a pre-show film installation titled GREY MATTER, and the culminating
evening length concert piece “shiFT.”
ContributorsWitt, Rebecca (Author) / Fitzgerald, Mary (Thesis advisor) / Standley, Eileen (Committee member) / Heywood, William (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2018
Description
This study investigated the relation between Sensory Processing Sensitivity (SPS) temperament and depression, and whether such a relation might be further influenced by the indirect effects of parenting environment and empathic personal distress. A moderated mediation model was proposed to explain the underlying relations among SPS, depression, parenting environment and empathic personal distress. That is, greater levels of SPS temperament might predict higher levels of empathic personal distress, which then leads to increasing likelihood of experiencing depression. Moreover, it was predicted that this mediation relation might be significantly stronger under a less positive parenting context. The present study recruited 661 participants from a U.S. university and implemented questionnaires in an online survey. There was a significant main effect of SPS temperament in predicting empathic personal distress and depression, such that the more sensitive individuals reported higher empathic personal distress and depression. There also was a significant main effect of parenting environment on depression, where more positive parenting was associated with less depression. Empathic personal distress was found to partially mediate the relation between SPS and depression. That is, the association between SPS and depression could be partially explained by empathic personal distress. However, parenting environment did not moderate the main effect of SPS temperament on depression, the main effect of SPS on empathic personal distress, or the mediation model.
ContributorsYang, Wenxi (Author) / Miller, Paul A. (Thesis advisor) / Hall, Deborah L. (Committee member) / Roberts, Nicole A. (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2019
Description
Social entrepreneurship has received a great deal of attention in recent years. Scholars constantly debate of the meaning of the term and the direction of the field. This paper explores literature written between the years 2010 \u2014 2015 in an effort to understand the current state of social entrepreneurship and gain insight as to the direction it is headed. This paper looks at definitions, characteristics, geographical differences, legal designations, and major themes such as social enterprise, social innovation, & social value as well as the implications for performance measures in an attempt to understand the broad concept that is social entrepreneurship.
ContributorsTalarico, Anthony (Author) / Shockley, Gordon (Thesis director) / Hayter, Christopher (Committee member) / Department of Management (Contributor) / School of Public Affairs (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2016-05
Description
The Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE) is an organization dedicated to defending student and faculty freedom of speech rights on college campuses in the United States. Their work has brought national attention and debate around how unbiased the foundation truly is. This thesis discusses the relevant cases around the freedom of speech such as United States v. O'Brien and Matal v. Tam in order to develop an understanding of general free speech protection. Free speech cases specifically regarding school campuses were analyzed such as Tinker v. Des Moines, Bethel v. Fraser, and Rosenberger v. University of Virginia to show the limitations of what FIRE can fight on campuses. FIRE's case selection methods were analyzed, and a bias toward conservative cases was found. This bias is disputed by FIRE supporters as natural given the liberal nature of higher education, but data surrounding professors, disinvitation attempts, and student opinions invalidate these claims. Three FIRE cases (Roberts v. Haragan, Smith v. Tarrant County College District, and the Dixie State Incident) were analyzed to show the progression and style of the foundation through the years and how they developed their aggressive and bully reputation. Finally, current large incidents of free speech oppression were analyzed to understand how they skew and affect public perception of the overall struggle for freedom of speech on college campuses. This thesis found that FIRE is in fact biased and that their efforts to make positive change are undermined by this. Keywords: FIRE, free speech, First Amendment
ContributorsRamos-Mata, Joseph Wilfrido (Author) / von Delden, Jayn (Thesis director) / Fradella, Hank (Committee member) / School of Social Transformation (Contributor) / School of Public Affairs (Contributor) / School of Criminology and Criminal Justice (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2018-12
Description
There are many anecdotal stories of dogs rescuing their owners from dangerous situations, but this rescue behavior has yet to be shown in an experimental setting. Studies have shown that dogs behave differently towards crying humans, but do not seek help for their owners when they are in distress. This study sought to determine if a dog could recognize when its owner was in distress and would attempt to rescue the owner. The experiment consisted of three conditions: a distress condition to determine how dogs respond to an owner calling for help, a reading condition to control for proximity-seeking and sound, and a food control to use as a basis for motivation and door-opening ability of the dog. Sixty dogs were tested in all three conditions in a pseudo-random order so that an equal number of dogs completed the conditions in each order. 38% of the dogs opened the apparatus for any condition, while 32% opened for the food and distress conditions and 27% opened for the reading condition, which shows that rescue in general is unlikely. There was no significant difference in the proportion of dogs who opened the apparatus for each condition, indicating that dogs are no more likely to rescue their distressed owners than they are to open the apparatus for other conditions and may not be able to sense that the owner is in distress. The similarities in the success rates also show that the owner can be just as motivating for a dog as food. Overall, the low success rates suggest that dogs are not generally likely to rescue a person who is trapped, even when they are calling for help.
ContributorsPatterson, Jordan Elizabeth (Author) / Wynne, Clive (Thesis director) / McBeath, Michael (Committee member) / W.P. Carey School of Business (Contributor) / Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Program (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2018-05
Description
This project is meant to measure and assess empathy through the Empathy Assessment Index (EAI) and Social Empathy Index (SEI) instruments. Researchers believe that empathy is an involuntary but dynamic aspect of people's affective and cognitive responses to emotional stimuli. This project used the EAI and SEI instruments to see whether a course taught at Arizona State University \u2014 PAF 300 \u2014increased empathy and its seven components within students. The results suggest that different modular interventions were effective in increasing four of the seven empathic components \u2014 affective response, perspective-taking, contextual understanding of systemic barriers, and macro self-other awareness/ perspective-taking \u2014 but that it was detrimental to two components, self-other awareness and affective mentalizing. Future studies are necessary to understand how aspects of a course curriculum can target and increase the seven components in individuals, as well as how these components relate to one another within the greater concept of empathy. Still, this research is important in the greater scheme of empathy as it seeks to understand and expand individuals' empathic levels in an increasingly bleak and desolate political climate.
ContributorsPirkl, Audrie Madison (Author) / Johnston, Erik W., 1977- (Thesis director) / Minrichs, Margaret (Committee member) / W.P. Carey School of Business (Contributor) / School of Public Affairs (Contributor) / Department of Management and Entrepreneurship (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2018-05
Description
There is growing concern among physicians, scholars, medical educators, and most importantly among patients, that science and technology have begun to eclipse fundamental attributes, such as empathy in the doctor-patient relationship. As a result, “humanism” in medicine has been a widely debated topic—how to define it, how to promote it, whether it can be taught, and how to qualify (much less quantify) its value in the practice of medicine. Through this research project I sought to better understand the role of humanities coursework in American medical school curricula, and determine whether there was a relationship between the integration of humanities coursework and the maintenance or enhancement of empathy levels in medical students. I reviewed literature with three objectives. (1) To better understand the influential social and political factors of pervasive reforms in US medical school curricula at the beginning of the 20th century, which led to science exclusive pedagogy in physician training (2) To become familiar with the works of iconic personalities in the history of American medical school pedagogy, paying special attention to attitudes and claims describing the role of humanities coursework, and the concept of humanism in the practice of medicine. (3) To observe the discourse underway across a variety of disciplines with regard to the current role of humanities coursework in medical curricula. My research shows that empathy is an essential attribute in the healing relationship, which benefits patients, physicians and improves health outcomes. Despite the importance of empathy, current physician training is documented as eroding empathy levels in medical students. Though the definition of ‘humanities’ in the context of medical school curricula remains vague and even contradictory, support for integration of humanities coursework is growing as an effective intervention for maintaining or enhancing levels of empathy.
ContributorsCraer, Jennifer Ryan (Author) / Maienschein; Lynch, Jane; John (Thesis director) / Ellison, Karin (Committee member) / Robert, Jason (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / School of Life Sciences (Contributor)
Created2014-05
Description
There is growing concern among physicians, scholars, medical educators, and most importantly among patients, that science and technology have begun to eclipse fundamental attributes, such as empathy in the doctor-patient relationship. As a result, “humanism” in medicine has been a widely debated topic—how to define it, how to promote it, whether it can be taught, and how to qualify (much less quantify) its value in the practice of medicine. Through this research project I sought to better understand the role of humanities coursework in American medical school curricula, and determine whether there was a relationship between the integration of humanities coursework and the maintenance or enhancement of empathy levels in medical students. I reviewed literature with three objectives. (1) To better understand the influential social and political factors of pervasive reforms in US medical school curricula at the beginning of the 20th century, which led to science exclusive pedagogy in physician training (2) To become familiar with the works of iconic personalities in the history of American medical school pedagogy, paying special attention to attitudes and claims describing the role of humanities coursework, and the concept of humanism in the practice of medicine. (3) To observe the discourse underway across a variety of disciplines with regard to the current role of humanities coursework in medical curricula. My research shows that empathy is an essential attribute in the healing relationship, which benefits patients, physicians and improves health outcomes. Despite the importance of empathy, current physician training is documented as eroding empathy levels in medical students. Though the definition of ‘humanities’ in the context of medical school curricula remains vague and even contradictory, support for integration of humanities coursework is growing as an effective intervention for maintaining or enhancing levels of empathy.
ContributorsCraer, Jennifer Ryan (Author) / Maienschein; Lynch, Jane; John (Thesis director) / Ellison, Karin (Committee member) / Robert, Jason (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / School of Life Sciences (Contributor)
Created2014-05