The role of empathy in the development of social competence: a study of German school leavers

Abstract

The present study investigates how the components of social competence relate to the core components of empathy. It offers a systematic analysis of the effects of the independent variablesemotion recognition accuracy, emotional perspective taking and affective responsivenesson the dependent variablesaction evaluation, consequence anticipation, goal attainment and competence expectations. The study´s population, which was subjected to cross-sectional analysis, constisted of 130 mainstream school leavers. Structural Equation Modelling yielded a specified model which showed that the factors of evaluation of actions and anticipation of consequences were most strongly impacted by the level of emotional perspective taking. In addition, the empathy components were found to be positively correlated variables. The findings are discussed in the light of current work on social information processing, and their relevance to educational practice is explored.

Fostering Empathic Skills in Mainstream Public School Pupils: Efficacy Assessment of the EPaN Empathy Training Program

“…Atkinson and Shiffrin, 1968). It makes the emotional state of the other person more readily accessible, adapts the own elaborated assessment of action more fittingly as the adolescent's performance measure (Hirn et al, 2018), and consequently modulates own behavior to fit situational requirements. This realization is so important because the social context, i.e., the school, triggers a multitude of emotions owing to the dynamics that it gives rise to.…”

“…Hirn, Thomas and Zoelch (2018) shed a more precise light on the positive correlations between the selected social competence dimensions that they extracted from the extended model of social information processing by Thomas and colleagues (2006) and the core components of empathy. The investigated empathic skill measures in the process turn out be interdependent, dynamic components that clearly correlate positively with the dimensions of social competence and, moreover, influence them directly and indirectly (Hirn et al, 2018). Especially the cognitive empathy component emotional perspective taking affects all social competence dimensions.…”

“…The chosen standardized stimulus set depicting evoked emotional expressions of actors with consideration for gender, age, intensity and valence was taken from Gur and colleagues (2002). The material has previously been used successfully in several studies on the recognition of emotions (Derntl et al, 2008(a); Derntl et al, 2008(b); Derntl et al, 2009;Fizgerald et al, 2006;Habel et al, 2007;Hirn et al, 2018;Moser et al, 2007). Acceptable values for internal consistency could be calculated for short form A (α = .75) and short form B (α = .76).…”

Primary School Teacher’s Social Competence in the Postgraduate Education

“…The study by Hirn, Thomas, and Zoelch (2019) investigates how the school leavers' components of social competence relate to the core components of empathy. The article by Aguilar, Lopez-Cobo, Cuadrado, and Benítez (2019) focuses on a project Learning to be (L2B) that aims to create an international framework for regulating activities and supporting teachers working on the social and emotional competences of the students.…”

Protocol for Evaluating the Impact of Social and Financial Education on Upper Primary School Children in Himachal Pradesh, India

“…At a micro level, higher cognitive skills are associated with, among other things, increased health, better functioning of mental abilities in old age, and higher wages and better education (Heckman, Stixrud, & Urzua, 2006;Heineck & Anger, 2010). Social and financial skills are among the key cognitive competencies called for today in a job market characterized by fast job turnover, and the concomitant need for adaptability (Hirn, Thomas, & Zoelch, 2018).…”