Effects of teaching empathy online: A randomized controlled trial

Abstract

Empathy, which involves understanding another individual's emotions, is often a subject of psychology courses and is a characteristic that counseling and other health professions programs aim to instill in students (e.g., Bell, 2017; Gerdes & Segal, 2011). The purpose of this study was to test whether brief, online training could increase empathy. The training focused on how to identify emotions in others, how to feel the emotions of others, and how to express empathy. The training included written instruction, models, video and auditory materials, quizzes to test comprehension, practice online, feedback, and assigned practice in natural settings. One hundred eighteen adults, mostly university students, entered the study. The participants completed measures of empathic responses and perspective taking at baseline and at the end of training. An analysis of covariance showed significantly higher empathic responses in the experimental group after training, compared with the waiting list group, F(1, 78) = 9.33, p = .03, Hedges' g = 0.66. A 2-month follow-up assessment with members of the training group showed that they maintained a significant improvement in empathic responses from baseline. We interpret the results to mean that brief online training can increase scores on a measure of empathy.