COMPARING SITUATIONAL AND DISPOSITIONAL EMPATHY, CONSIDERING THE ROLE OF GENDER

Introduction: this study aimed to investigate the role of gender in empathy. Method: 117 participants watched videos of injuring a man, a woman and a child. In addition, all participants answered Interpersonal Reactivity Index to assess dispositional empathy. Results: results showed that females had stronger reactions to all three situations of harm to others (p<0.01). Females also reported higher emotional empathy (p<0.01). A look into gender of object of empathy showed that subjects of both gender had empathy when a woman was injured (p<0.01). Conclusions: according to these findings females show more empathy than males, and prevalence of females in dispositional empathy is limited to emotional empathy. Gender of object of empathy plays an important role in intensity of experienced empathy.