TY - JOUR
T1 - Empathy Competencies and Behaviors in Professional Communication Interactions
T2 - Self Versus Client Assessments
AU - Fuller, Melissa
AU - de Jong, Menno
AU - Kamans, Elanor
AU - Wolfensberger, Marca
AU - van Vuuren, Mark
N1 - Funding Information:
The author(s) disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article: This work was made possible with the financial support of the Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research, Doctoral Grant for Teachers, under Grant #023.005.094.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2023 by the Association for Business Communication.
PY - 2023/6
Y1 - 2023/6
N2 - Empathy is an important competence for communication professionals. This article investigates two aspects of empathy in an educational setting: the validity of self versus other assessments and the manifestation of empathy in communicative behaviors. Communication students were given a mediating role in discussions with two clients and their empathy was measured using self-ratings and client assessments. Videos of highest- and lowest-rated students were analyzed to identify empathy-related behaviors. No correlation was found between self-rated empathy and clients’ assessments. Several verbal and nonverbal behaviors corresponded to empathy: body language, an other-orientation in asking questions, paraphrasing, and a solution orientation.
AB - Empathy is an important competence for communication professionals. This article investigates two aspects of empathy in an educational setting: the validity of self versus other assessments and the manifestation of empathy in communicative behaviors. Communication students were given a mediating role in discussions with two clients and their empathy was measured using self-ratings and client assessments. Videos of highest- and lowest-rated students were analyzed to identify empathy-related behaviors. No correlation was found between self-rated empathy and clients’ assessments. Several verbal and nonverbal behaviors corresponded to empathy: body language, an other-orientation in asking questions, paraphrasing, and a solution orientation.
KW - communication professionals
KW - empathy
KW - higher education
KW - interpersonal communication
KW - professional communication
KW - UT-Hybrid-D
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85145746223&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1177/23294906221137569
DO - 10.1177/23294906221137569
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85145746223
SN - 2329-4906
VL - 86
SP - 167
EP - 186
JO - Business and Professional Communication Quarterly
JF - Business and Professional Communication Quarterly
IS - 2
ER -