The Effectiveness of Training for Empathy in Pre-Service Teacher Education

The specific objective of this research was to determine the effectiveness of training on understanding empathy in the teacher training process. Subjects were Utah State University students enrolled in Elementary Education during winter quarter 1976. The experimental group was composed of 34 subjects and the control group of 27 subjects. Both groups were administered a pretest. The experimental group then received the treatment which consisted of a training program designed to help them to be able to (1) define, (2) recognize instances of, and (3) to emit empathic behavior. At the conclusion of the training program both the experimental and the control groups were administered a posttest. A hypothesis of significant difference was formulated stating there would be a significant difference between posttest scores of the experimental and control groups on a measure of empathic understanding. Results of the study indicate that in fact a significant difference was found as a result of the experimental treatment. On the criteria measured, the empathy training program did have a significant effect on the emitted empathic behavior of the subjects in the treatment group