Comparison of Described Empathic and Nominated Empathic Individuals

Abstract

A composite profile of "empathic individuals" was developed from adjectives checked on Gough and Heilbrun's Adjective Check List by 43 undergraduate students enrolled in a course on counseling. Individuals were nominated as empathic by the students who also completed the checklist. The composite profile was consistent with the Rogerian definition of empathy and Factor 3 (Sociability) of the check list. The profiles for the nominated sample and for the students did not differ significantly on 36 of the 37 scales but both differed significantly from the composite profile on 34 scales.

Body Disclosures: Attending to Personal Problems and Reported Sexual Abuse during a Medical Encounter

“…It has often been described in terms of "empathic opportunities" (Bellett & Maloney, 1991;Branch & Malick, 1993;Brown, 1989;Suchman et al, 1997), or moments of "embarrassment" (Goffman, 1956(Goffman, , 1959(Goffman, , 1969Heath, 1986Heath, , 1988, but ongoing work is needed to anchor conceptualizations about interaction within specific moments and practices organizing exchange. By closely examining the vocal and visual organization of this excerpt, a grounded understanding emerges of moments wherein attending gets interactionally accomplished.…”

“…Though we have offered detailed observations about an excerpt comprising less than 1 minute in real time, such attention is required in order to lay an empirical foundation for understanding how soliciting (Marvel et al, 1999) and attending to delicate moments get adequately accomplished during history taking. It has often been described in terms of "empathic opportunities" (Bellett & Maloney, 1991;Branch & Malick, 1993;Brown, 1989;Suchman et al, 1997), or moments of "embarrassment" (Goffman, 1956(Goffman, , 1959(Goffman, , 1969Heath, 1986Heath, , 1988, but ongoing work is needed to anchor conceptualizations about interaction within specific moments and practices organizing exchange. By closely examining the vocal and visual organization of this excerpt, a grounded understanding emerges of moments wherein attending gets interactionally accomplished.…”