Setting: a contextual variable associated with empathy

Fifty seven registered nurses working in either a psychiatric or non-psychiatric setting volunteered to participate in a study to measure their empathic ability with patients. Results of the study supported the notion that nurses working in a psychiatric setting are significantly more empathic than nurses working in a non-psychiatric setting (p less than .05). Contrary to some previous research findings, the demographic variables of age, sex, marital status, educational level, and length of experiences were not significantly related to empathy. Setting--psychiatric or non-psychiatric--was the only variable that made a difference.