Does My Group Know How I Feel? Measuring Intellectual Empathy in Groups Using the Social Relations Model

作者：Markin Rayna^*

来源：Group Dynamics, 2011, 15(1): 1-15.

DOI：10.1037/a0020292

• intellectual empathy
• groups
• social relations model

The purpose of this study was to try out a relatively new method for assessing intellectual empathy in groups, using the Social Relations Model (SRM; Kenny, 1988). Duan and Hill (1996) identified major problems with current empathy rating scales. Duan and Kivlighan (2002) then tried out a new method for measuring intellectual empathy in counseling dyads that addressed these limitations. Building upon Duan and Kivlighan's method, intellectual empathy, in the present study, was defined as the relationship between group members' perception of a target member's emotions and that member's self-ratings of his or her emotions. Forty-three group members in 6 personal growth groups completed self-ratings of their own emotional experiences in the group and also rated their perception of the emotional experiences of every other member in the group. The Social Relations Model analysis suggested that, overall, group members did not accurately identify the emotional experiences of other members in a group session. Instead, group members tended to perceive other members in the group as experiencing similar emotions to one another. Furthermore, group members tended to assume that the emotional experiences of the other members were similar to their own.

• 出版日期2011-3