The relationship between Empathy and listening styles is complex: implications for doctors in training.

Area of Science:

• Medical Education
• Communication Skills
• Psychology

Background:

• Effective doctor-patient communication is crucial for successful healthcare.
• Physician empathy is vital for communication, but abilities vary.
• Listening styles may explain differences in physician empathy.

Purpose of the Study:

• To assess empathy and listening styles in medical students.
• To determine if specific listening styles correlate with higher empathy.

Main Methods:

• Cross-sectional study of 97 medical students.
• Utilized the Jefferson Scale of Empathy (JSE) and Listening Styles Profile (LSP-R).
• ANOVA used to compare JSE scores across listening styles.

Main Results:

• Mean empathy score was 103 ± 14.
• Clinical students exhibited lower empathy than preclinical students.
• Analytical listening was most preferred; relational listening was less common in clinical students.
• No significant relationship found between listening styles and empathy.

Conclusions:

• No specific listening style is associated with medical students' empathy.
• Empathy may stem from flexible switching between listening styles, not adherence to one.