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Empathic features of absorption and incongruence
1Adler School of Professional Psychology, Chicago, IL 60601, USA. Rigdzen@hotmail.com
The American Journal of Clinical Hypnosis
|August 10, 2007
Summary
Empathy is positively linked to absorption. Affective empathy components inversely relate to repressive coping, while cognitive empathy components positively link to incongruence in graduate students.
Area of Science:
- Psychology
- Clinical Psychology
Background:
- Empathy is a key factor in interpersonal functioning.
- Absorption and incongruence (repressive coping) are psychological constructs that may influence empathic experiences.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the relationship between empathy, absorption, and incongruence (repressive coping).
- To explore how different components of empathy relate to repressive coping strategies.
Main Methods:
- 71 graduate students completed self-report measures of empathy, absorption, and incongruence.
- Correlational analyses were used to examine the relationships between the variables.
Main Results:
- Empathy showed a significant positive correlation with absorption (r = .42, p < .001).
- Affective empathy components were inversely related to repressive coping (r = -.29, p < .05).
- Cognitive empathy components were positively related to the social desirability aspects of incongruence (r = .31, p < .01).
Conclusions:
- Findings support the positive association between empathy and absorption.
- Empathy's components differentially relate to repressive coping and incongruence, suggesting complex interplay.
- Results are discussed within theoretical frameworks including Hypnotic Involvement, Repressive Coping, Incongruence, and Threat Perception.
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