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Relationship between empathy and the Big Five Personality traits in a sample of Spanish adolescents

DOI:10.2224/sbp.2004.32.7.677
Authors:
Victoria del Barrio at National Distance Education University
Victoria del Barrio
Anton Aluja
Anton Aluja
Luis F Garcia at Universidad Autónoma de Madrid
Luis F Garcia
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Empathy has been considered a central feature of our temperamental dispositions in childhood and adolescence. It plays a central role in the development of prosocial behavior and moral reasoning. However, the links between empathy and the major factors of personality have not yet been well described. This study explores the relationships between an index of empathy and the Big-Five personality model in a sample of 832 Spanish adolescents. As expected, results show that empathy correlates strongly with Friendliness. Positive correlations with Conscientiousness, Energy, and Openness traits have also been observed, but regression analyses show that relationships of empathy with those three factors were of negligible importance. Contrary to expectations, empathy did not correlate with Emotional stability. This pattern of results was replicated across boys and girls.
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RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN EMPATHY AND THE BIG FIVE
PERSONALITY TRAITS IN A SAMPLE OF SPANISH
ADOLESCENTS
VICTORIA DEL BARRIO
National University of Distance Education, Madrid, Spain
ANTON ALUJA AND LUIS F. G ARCÍA
University of Lleida, Spain
Empathy has been considered a central feature of our temperamental dispositions in childhood
and adolescence. It plays a central role in the development of prosocial behavior and moral
reasoning. However, the links between empathy and the major factors of personality have not
yet been well described. This study explores the relationships between an index of empathy
and the Big-Five personality model in a sample of 832 Spanish adolescents. As expected,
results show that empathy correlates strongly with Friendliness. Positive correlations with
Conscientiousness, Energy, and Openness traits have also been observed, but regression
analyses show that relationships of empathy with those three factors were of negligible
importance. Contrary to expectations, empathy did not correlate with Emotional stability. This
pattern of results was replicated across boys and girls.
Empathy can be understood as the vicarious affective responses with an
emphasis on the congruent response to others’ emotional state (del Barrio, 2002;
Eisenberg, 2000). Empathy is considered an effective control of aggression in
childhood and adolescence (Bandura, 1999; Tremblay, Pihl, Vitaro, & Dobkin,
1994), as well as an important predictor of prosocial behavior, and the
development of moral reasoning during childhood (Eisenberg, Miller, Shell,
McNalley, & Shea, 1991). This positive role of empathy in interpersonal
SOCIAL BEHAVIOR AND PERSONALITY, 2004, 32(7), 677-682
© Society for Personality Research (Inc.)
677
Victoria del Barrio, Department of Personality, Faculty of Psychology, National University of
Distance Education, Madrid, Spain; Anton Aluja and Luis F. García, University of Lleida, Spain.
Appreciation is due to reviewers including: Oscar Garcia Lopez, PhD, Universidad Europea de
Madrid, c/ Tajo s/n, Villaviosa de Odon, 28670 Madrid, Spain, Email: <oscar.garcia@uem.es>;
Professor Jerome Rossier, Institute of Psychology, University of Lausanne, BFSH 2 – Dorigny, CH –
1015 Lausamme, Switzerland, Email: <Jerome.Rossier@ip.unil.ch>
Please address correspondence and reprint requests to: Victoria del Barrio, Department of Personality,
Faculty of Psychology, National University of Distance Education, Madrid, Spain. Phone: 34 97
3792326; Email: <vbarrio@psi.uned.es>
relationships has been shown in American (Bryant, 1985), Colombian (Rey,
2001), and Spanish (Mestre, Semper, & Frías, 2002) samples.
Nowadays, the Five Factor model is considered as the dominant paradigm in
personality research (Matthews & Deary, 1998). Following this model,
Neuroticism, Extraversion, Openness to Experience, Agreeableness, and
Conscientiousness are the basic traits of personality. Empathy is expected to
correlate with various traits of the Five Factor model. In detail, empathy should
correlate mainly with Agreeableness. This trait is primarily a dimension of
interpersonal behavior, and represents the quality of interaction from compassion
to antagonism (Costa, McCrae, & Dye, 1991). Agreeableness is also strongly
implicated in the prediction of prosocial and aggressive behaviors (Graziano &
Eisenberg, 1997). On the other hand, there are two reasons for expecting a
positive correlation between empathy and Conscientiousness. High scores on this
trait inhibit aggressive behaviors in adolescent populations (John, Caspi, Robins,
Moffitt, & Stouthamer-Loeber, 1994), and Conscientiousness correlates
negatively with Eysenck’s dimension of Psychoticism (Aluja, García, & García,
2002), defined by a lack of empathy.
The relationship between empathy and Neuroticism appears less clear.
Whereas prosocial behaviors and concern for others have been related to low
scores on negative emotionality or Neuroticism (e.g. Shiner & Caspi, 2003),
Eysenck defended a positive relationship between empathy and Neuroticism
(Eysenck & Eysenck, 1991).
As far as we know, no study has related the Five Factor model with an index
of empathy in the adolescent population. Thus, the purpose of this study was to
explore the convergent and discriminant validity of empathy in regard to the Big-
Five personality traits.
METHOD
SUBJECTS
Eight hundred and thirty-two children between 12 and 17 years (Mean age:
14.39; SD: 0.92) participated in the study. The sample was composed of 408 boys
(Mean age: 14.39; SD: 0.96), and 424 girls (Mean age: 14.38; SD: 0.88).
Questionnaires were administered in the classroom in the presence of a trained
psychologist.
MEASURES
IECA. The Spanish version of Bryant’s Empathy Index for Children and
Adolescents (Bryant, 1982; del Barrio, Aluja, & García, in press) is a 22-item
questionnaire, with a +2 to -2 response format. Response choices were visually
aided by two circles of increasing size on either the yes, like me or the no, not like
RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN EMPATHY AND THE BIG FIVE
678
me sides of the paper. All children understood the procedure, as indicated by their
responses to trial items such as “I like ice cream” and “I don’t like soap in my
eyes”. The alpha coefficient in the sample was 0.73.
The Spanish version of the Big Five Questionnaire (BFQ). (Caprara,
Barbaranelli, Borgogni, & Perugini, 1993) is a 132-item questionnaire measuring
five domains (Energy, Friendliness, Conscientiousness, Emotional Stability, and
Openness). Note that those terms will be employed hereafter to name the “Big
Five”. The respondent has a 5-choice answer format that ranges from complete
disagreement (1 = very false for me) to complete agreement (5 = very true for
me). Alpha reliability indices in the present sample were 0.65, 0.65, 0.71, 0.73,
and 0.65 for Energy, Friendliness, Conscientiousness, Emotional Stability and
Openness, respectively.
RESULTS
Table 1 shows the statistical descriptives and correlations among empathy and
the Big-Five, separately by sex. Differences between sexes replicate previous
findings regarding empathy (Eisenberg & Lennon, 1983), and the Big-Five
(Costa, Terracciano, & McCrae, 2001). Girls score higher on Empathy,
Friendliness, Conscientiousness, and Openness, whereas boys show a larger
mean on Emotional Stability. No sex differences were found for Energy.
TABLE 1
STATISTICAL DESCRIPTIVES (MEAN AND STANDARD DEVIATION), CORRELATIONS BETWEEN
EMPATHY AND THE BIG FIVE, AND STANDARDISED REGRESSION COEFFICIENTS
Statistical Correlations Standardised
descriptives with Empathy regression
coefficients
Boys Girls Boys Girls Boys Girls
Energy 77.94 77.71 .171*.129*---- ---
(8.78) (9.10)
Friendliness 76.87 81.97 .359*.401*.30 .38
(8.73) (7.85)
Conscientiousness 76.47 78.73 .232*.184*--- .11
(9.31) (9.69)
Emotional Stability 70.90 66.44 .014 -.113 --- -.13
(9.32) (10.36)
Openness 76.41 78.61 .284*.203*.19 ---
(8.88) (9.10)
Empathy 68.26 80.15
(9.70) (10.29)
p< .01.
RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN EMPATHY AND THE BIG FIVE 679
As expected, the largest correlations were with Friendliness. In order to correct
for the lack of reliability of the scales, a correction for attenuation was computed
for the correlations between Empathy and Friendliness. The corrected
coefficients were 0.53 and 0.58 for boys and girls, respectively. On the other
hand, correlations with Energy, Conscientiousness and Openness were
significant for both sexes, although much lower than those for Friendliness.
Unexpectedly, Emotional Stability was not related with Empathy. It should be
highlighted that the same pattern arises for both boys and girls. Moreover, Table
1 shows also the standardised regression coefficients of the personality traits
included in the final regression model (stepwise method) taking Empathy as the
dependent variable. The adjusted R2were 0.15, and 0.18 for boys and girls,
respectively. The adjusted R2was also obtained with a linear regression using the
enter method. Values were 0.16 and 0.18 for boys and girls, respectively.
DISCUSSION
Empathy is strongly linked to Friendliness for boys and girls. So an important
component of the individual differences in the quality of interpersonal behavior
during adolescence is the ability to respond appropriately to others’ emotions.
But also, Empathy could play a minor role in the need for social encounters, the
control of one’s own impulses, and intellectual curiosity. Our study supports no
relevant relationship (either positive or negative) between Empathy and
Neuroticism. This fact does not confirm Eysenck’s view that feeling anxiety or
fear oneself would engender the ability of feeling another’s emotional state
(Eysenck & Eysenck, 1985). However, caution should be exercised in relying on
this fact since other authors remark that very young adolescents could have
limitations in their ability to recognize their own emotional states through self-
report measures (Eisenberg & Strayer, 1987). In general, these results reflect the
importance of the empathy construct in explaining the self-reported differences
in the Friendliness trait during adolescence.
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Bu araştırmanın amacı, beş faktör kişilik özelliklerinin sporda ahlaktan uzaklaşma davranışını yordama etkisinin incelenmesidir. Araştırma grubu, Kayseri ve Sivas ilinde bulunan, spor yapmış ve aktif olarak spor yapan, 178’i kadın 244’ü erkek olmak üzere 18 yaş ve üzeri, 422 bireyden oluşmaktadır. Veri toplama aracı olarak kişisel bilgi formu, sporda ahlaktan uzaklaşma ölçeği, beş faktör kişilik ölçeği uygulanmıştır. Verilerin analizinde R (4.1.3) programı kullanılmıştır. Verilerin değerlendirilmesinde betimsel istatistikler, regresyon analizine yönelik varsayımsal incelemeler, basit ve çoklu doğrusal regresyon analizleri uygulanmıştır. Elde edilen bulgulara göre kişilik özellikleri ile ahlaktan uzaklaşma davranışı ilişkilidir. Beş faktör kişiliğin özdenetimlilik ve uyumluluk boyutlarının ahlaktan uzaklaşma davranışını yordama etkisi anlamlı bulunmuştur (Özdenetimlilik ve Uyumluluk için p<0.05). Ek olarak bu iki kişilik boyutunun etkileşim etkisi de istatistiksel olarak anlamlı bulunmuştur (Özdenetimlilik*Uyumluluk için p<0.05). Sonuç olarak beş faktör kişiliğin bazı temel boyutları ahlaki davranışın yordayıcısıdır. İleride yapılacak araştırmalarda ahlaktan uzaklaşma davranışını yordayan temel kişilik boyutlarının ayrıntılı olarak ele alınması önerilmektedir.
Kişilik Özelliklerinin Sporda Ahlaktan Uzaklaşma Davranışını Yordama EtkisiThe Predictive Effect of Personality Traits on Moral Disengagement in Sports
Article
Full-text available
  • Nov 2022
Bu araştırmanın amacı, beş faktör kişilik modelinin sporda ahlaktan uzaklaşma davranışını yordama etkisinin incelenmesidir. Araştırma grubu, Kayseri ve Sivas ilinde bulunan, spor yapmış ve aktif olarak spor yapan, 178’i kadın 244’ü erkek olmak üzere 18 yaş ve üzeri, 422 bireyden oluşmaktadır. Veri toplama aracı olarak kişisel bilgi formu, sporda ahlaktan uzaklaşma ölçeği, beş faktör kişilik ölçeği – kısa formu uygulanmıştır. Verilerin analizinde R 4.1.3 programı kullanılmıştır. Verilerin değerlendirilmesinde betimsel istatistikler, regresyon analizine yönelik varsayımsal incelemeler, basit ve çoklu doğrusal regresyon analizleri uygulanmıştır. Elde edilen bulgulara göre kişilik özellikleri ile ahlaktan uzaklaşma davranışı ilişkilidir (p
Application of Machine Learning as a Career Predictor: A Review
Article
Full-text available
Today the world is vastly becoming dance and integrating into one single hub for economic and cultural activities, People are having busy schedules as well as a huge diversification in the global job market can be seen. As a result, people are focusing more on finding happiness and harmony within their job roles and building a relaxing career. In order to find the successfulness of the various job roles and employee performances, psychology is the most common approach by worldwide professionals. In this review, the possible methods to measure the successfulness of careers and various job roles are evaluated and explored using more technical and theoretical approaches which align with engineering guidelines.
Personality differences in childhood and adolescence: measurement, development, and consequences
Article
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Child psychologists and psychiatrists are interested in assessing children's personalities. This interest is fueled by the practical desire to identify differences between children that have predictive utility, and by recognition that future advances in developmental theory, especially in relation to gene-environment interplay, can only be as good as the measures on which they rely. The aim of this article is to facilitate these practical and theoretical advances. First, we delineate a taxonomy of measurable individual differences in temperament and personality in childhood, and point the reader to proven and/or promising measuring instruments. Second, we describe the processes through which early temperament differences may become elaborated into adult personality structure and lifelong adaptation, and identify gaps in the empirical research that need to be filled. Third, we explore the various connections between temperament/personality traits and psychopathology, and direct attention to promising questions and strategies.
Prosocial Development in Adolescence: A Longitudinal Study
Article
Full-text available
  • Sep 1991
Change in prosocial moral reasoning over an 11-year period, gender differences in prosocial reasoning in adolescence, and the interrelations of moral reasoning, prosocial behavior, and empathy-related emotional responses were examined with longitudinal data and data from adolescents interviewed for the first time. Hedonistic reasoning declined in use until adolescence and then increased somewhat (primarily for boys). Needs-oriented reasoning, direct reciprocity reasoning, and approval and stereotypic reasoning increased until midchildhood or early adolescence and then declined. Several modes of higher level reasoning emerged in late childhood or adolescence. Girls' overall reasoning was higher than boys'. Consistent with expectations, there was some evidence of high level prosocial reasoning being associated with prosocial behavior and empathy and of a relation between sympathy or empathy and prosocial behavior.
Sex Differences in Empathy and Related Capacities
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Full-text available
  • Jul 1983
Reviews the literature on sex differences in empathy (defined as vicarious affective responding to the emotional state of another) and related capacities (affective role taking and decoding of nonverbal cues). The literature is discussed according to method used to assess empathy and affective role taking. Where appropriate, meta-analyses were also computed. In general, sex differences in empathy were found to be a function of the methods used to assess empathy. There was a large sex difference favoring women when the measure of empathy was self-report scales; moderate differences (favoring females) were found for reflexive crying and self-report measures in laboratory situations; and no sex differences were evident when the measure of empathy was either physiological or unobtrusive observations of nonverbal reactions to another's emotional state. Moreover, few sex differences were found for children's affective role taking and decoding abilities. (156 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
Sources of Support Derived from the Neighborhood Walk
Article
  • Jan 1985
This report documents children's perception of their involvement with self-development, family members, and members of the community and begins to test the relation between that network and aspects of social-emotional functioning during middle childhood. Support was conceptualized to include experiences of both relatedness to and autonomy from others. Three major types of reported support in this study using the Neighborhood Walk were considered: others as resources (e.g., persons in the peer, parent, and grandparent generation; pets), intrapersonal sources of support (e.g., hobbies; fantasies-structured and unstructured; skill development), and environmental sources of support (e.g., places to get off to by oneself; formally sponsored organizations with structured and unstructured activities; informal, unsponsored meeting places). One hundred sixty-eight children (72 7-year-olds and 96 10-year-olds), residing in nonmetropolitan and rural northern California and representing all but the lowest Hollingshead socioeconomic status, participated in this study. To assess their sources of support at home and in the neighborhood/community, each of these 168 children was taken on a Neighborhood Walk, and then several measures of social-emotional functioning were administered. Cross-sectional data form the empirical basis for a developmental perspective on sources of support, the structure of social-emotional functioning, and the relationship between sources of support and social-emotional functioning during middle childhood. The child's perception of support was found relevant to predicting the social-emotional functioning of children growing up in relatively secure and low-stress conditions in modern American society. Furthermore, a broad-based as opposed to a limited network and informal as opposed to formal sources of support were more predictive of social-emotional functioning. The empirical and theoretical relevance of considering middle childhood as a period of active development involving expansion and integration of social and affective phenomena was underscored by the results. First, it appears that the 7-year-olds have not yet developed the underlying response or habit clusters that characterize the 10-year-olds. Second, with respect to reported sources of support, 10-year-olds appear to have more elaborated sources of support than do 7-year-olds. Third, the findings confirm that developing a bridge to extended family and neighborhood resources is related to expressions of social-emotional functioning during middle childhood and that 10-year-olds appear to make effective use of more social support factors than do 7-year-olds. Finally, family size and sex of the child were key factors that interacted with specific types of support to predict social-emotional functioning.
An Index of Empathy for Children and Adolescents
Article
  • Apr 1982
This study presents the development and validation of an index of empathy for use with children and adolescents. 56 first graders, 115 fourth graders, and 87 seventh graders were studied. Item means, item-total correlations, test-retest reliabilities, correlations testing the relationship of empathy to aggressiveness and acceptance of individual differences, correlations testing the relationship of this adapted index of empathy to other existing measures of empathy as well as to social desirability response set and reading achievement formed the basis of internal, discriminant, convergent, and general construct validation. The measure demonstrated satisfactory reliability and preliminary construct validity. The study of a subset of items controlling for same-sex versus cross-sex stimulus figures provided the basis for investigating developmental aspects of empathic arousal toward peers of different sexes. Overall, the availability of comparable forms of a measure of empathy for use with children, adolescents, and adults will be useful for exploring the developmental antecedents and conditions surrounding the expression of emotional empathy.
The" Big Five Questionnaire": A new questionnaire to assess the Five Factor Model.
Article
Assessed the structural properties, construct validity, and temporal stability (test–retest) of the Big Five Questionnaire (BFQ), a questionnaire for the measurement of the Big Five Factor Model (FFM), which includes the factors Extraversion, Agreeableness or Friendliness, Conscientiousness, Emotional Stability or Neuroticism, and Intellect or Openness to Experience. The assessment of the questionnaire involved 1,189 Ss (aged 16–63 yrs). The factor structure of the BFQ showed a high stability across different groups of Ss with different demographic characteristics. The factor scores showed substantial overlap with the scores for the expected 5 dimensions. The temporal stability and the internal consistency of the dimensions and facet scales were satisfactory. Finally, the construct validity was proved by correlations with standard markers of the FFM and personality factors of alternative taxonomies. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)