Sociodemographic Differences in Empathic Tendency: A Sample of Religious High School Students

Abstract

Previous empathy studies in Turkey mostly focused on specific samples, such as preschool, secondary school students, or medical staff, but less is known about religious high school students. The aim of this cross-sectional study was to examine the empathic tendency levels of Imam and Preacher Training High School students with respect to gender, grade level, perceived happiness, and most lived place. A convenience sample of 268 randomly selected religious high school students took part in the study. Study participants consisted of 156 (58.2%) males and 112 (41.8 %) females. The data were collected through the KA-SI empathic tendency scale adolescent form and the Personal Information Form. Four way between subjects analysis of variance (ANOVA) was used for data analysis. Consistent with previous research, the results suggest that the empathic tendency levels of girls were significantly higher than those of boys, and no significant difference was found between grade level, perceived happiness, and most lived place. Researchers considering developing empathy intervention programs for Imam and Preacher Training High School students should focus on male students as a potential risk group.