Empathy as an Element of Promoting the Manifestation of Group Creativity and Survey on Empathic Ability of Korean Elementary School Students

Abstract

This research examined the importance of empathy, which was regarded as one of the elements that might assist in accelerating the manifestation of group creativity, and studied the actual state of empathic ability of Korean elementary school students. For such, a cognitive and affective empathic ability test was conducted over 228 students that were in their fifth and sixth grades of public elementary school in Korea, and this result was indirectly compared with preceding research results of the United States and the Netherlands, which had studied the empathic ability over students in a similar age range as the research subjects. As a result of the research, Korean elementary school students appeared to have higher cognitive empathic ability than affective empathic ability. In particular, the mean score of perspective taking of Korean elementary school students, in cognitive empathy, appeared to be relatively higher than the mean score of the elementary school students in the United States and the Netherlands. The mean score of fantasizing appeared to be lower than the mean score of perspective taking, while failing to reach the mean. Moreover, empathic concern of Korean elementary school students, in affective empathy, appeared to be relatively lower than the mean score of elementary school students of the United States and the Netherlands. Moreover, the mean score of empathic awakening appeared to be higher than the mean score of empathic concern, however, the mean score of emphatic awakening appeared to have failed to reach the mean. The educational implications for such have been discussed.

International Comparative Case Study of High School Students about Empathy

“…So, it can be said that empathy ability of Korean students is similar to that of students in US, but higher than that of students in Dutch. These results are different from that of research on the comparison about the empathy ability of elementary school students among Korean, American, and Dutch (Woo et al, 2017). It showed that the cognitive empathy ability of Korean elementary school students was higher than that of American or Dutch elementary school students, whereas the affective empathy ability of Korean elementary school students is lower than that of Americans or Dutch students.…”

“…Korean students were superior to students in other countries in their affective empathy abilities, but Korean students were little lower than US in terms of cognitive empathy. In the results of analysis in elementary school students in Korea (Woo et al, 2017), their cognitive empathy ability was higher than their affective empathy ability. But in the high school case, the situation was different.…”

“…Many previous studies were conducted regarding the necessity of empathy and scales of it. But there were few studies to compare empathy ability in IRI of Korean high school students with those of other countries (Woo et al, 2017). Therefore, this study seeks to analyze the realities of empathy abilities and confirms the possibility of using them in the field of education as there still remain many challenges in this regard.…”

Compassionate Society and Empathic Civilization: Utopia or Transformative Idea for Better Future

“…[29][30][31][32] In search of a compassionate, sane society, intercultural empathy and public mental health in Bosnia and Herzegovina we need a critical mass of harmonious leaders in all segments of our life, such as politics, science, religion, business, culture, education, and sports. 14,33,34 The aim is to break the cycle of hatred and fear. According to Srica 33,34 harmonious leaders see through the eyes of others; they are generous, love consensus, and want everyone to win.…”

“…14,33,34 The aim is to break the cycle of hatred and fear. According to Srica 33,34 harmonious leaders see through the eyes of others; they are generous, love consensus, and want everyone to win. Bosnia and Herzegovina is the right place for applying the Strategic Harmony Model and promoting principles of brotherhood in humanity and empathic civilization.…”