Browsing by Subject "Empathy"

Now showing 1 - 7 of 7

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Bystander responses in five-steps: paving road to prosocial intervention to social exclusion through social-cognition
(Wiley, 2024-11-01) Ayhan, Serengeti; Gönültaş, Seçil
To promote prosocial defending behaviours to social exclusion, it is important to understand the role of social-cognitive factors in bystanders' cognition, judgements and responses. The current research examined how social cognitive skills relate to different aspects of bystanders' cognition, judgements and responses in the five-step intervention model. Data were collected from 96 Turkish children and adolescents (Mage = 12.39 years, SD = 1.74, 59 girls, aged 10-17). Participants were presented with a hypothetical social exclusion scenario and their bystanders' cognition, judgements and responses were measured via five-step intervention model. Theory of mind (ToM), mind-reading motivation (MRM) and empathy were also measured as predictors. Hierarchical regression analyses showed that while ToM and MRM were more likely to predict bystanders' judgements and cognitions around social exclusion, empathy was also found to be correlated with behavioural aspects of bystanders' responses beside cognitions and judgements. Overall, our novel findings provide insight for intervention studies to promote prosocial bystanders' judgements, cognitions and responses by addressing different social-cognitive skills.
Open Access
Developing empathy towards older adults in design
(Routledge, 2017-02-06) Altay, Burçak
In design disciplines, an affective understanding of users’ everyday lives can increase designer sensitivity and awareness, leading to higher-quality design outcomes. Developing students’ empathic understanding within design education is required to accomplish this goal. This article discusses learning strategies that enhance students’ empathic horizons, and specifically analyzes an assignment conducted in an Interior Architecture and Environmental Design course, “The Grandparent Experience.” Here, exposure through observation and interviewing, and art-based methods are employed to develop students’ empathy towards older adults. We conducted a survey with students who completed the exercise and the course, exploring their perspectives on their learning. The results reveal that students had positive views on the assignment’s effectiveness regarding the learning outcome and learning process. Implications for empathic design education and educational gerontology are discussed.
Open Access
Do adolescents intervene in intergroup bias-based bullying? Bystander judgments and responses to intergroup bias-based bullying of refugees
(Wiley-Blackwell Publishing, Inc., 2022-04-03) Gönültaş, Seçil; Mulvey, Kelly Lynn
This study examined 587 Turkish adolescents’ (Mage = 13.14, SD = 1.61) judgments and bystander responses towards hypothetical intragroup interpersonal (Turkish victim) and intergroup bias-based (Syrian refugee victim) bullying. Intergroup factors and social-cognitive skills were assessed as predictors. Findings revealed that adolescents were less likely to see bullying as acceptable and less likely to explicitly support the bully in intragroup interpersonal bullying compared to intergroup bias-based bullying. Further, adolescents with higher theory of mind and empathy were more likely to evaluate intergroup bias-based bullying as less acceptable and more likely to challenge the bully. Adolescents’ prejudice and discrimination towards refugees were predictors of bystander judgments and responses to intergroup bias-based bullying. This study provides implications for anti-bullying intervention programs.
Open Access
A Greek–Turkish peace project: assessing the effectiveness of interactive conflict resolution
(Routledge, 2015) Cuhadar E.; Genc, O. G.; Kotelis, A.
This paper evaluates a Greek–Turkish peace project, which was composed of three interactive workshops and was held with university students from Greece and Turkey. We evaluate the project by combining a two-way evaluation methodology. The first is a process evaluation where we examine the project’s ‘theory of change’ through interviews with the organizers and participant observation. A theory of change map has been created as a result depicting the beliefs of the organizers about the conflict, the conditions they see as necessary to transform the conflict, the programmatic activities and macro-level goals. In the second part, we conduct an outcome evaluation measuring empathy and trust towards the members of the other ethnic group. We employ a two-group, post-test experimental design. The findings of this phase suggest that the participant group has significantly higher level of empathy and trust towards the other group than the non-participants. Finally, we compare the results from the two phases of evaluation and draw both practical lessons for peace practitioners and theoretical implications to guide future research.
Open Access
Relations between parental attachment, empathy, and bystander help-seeking preference following peer aggression
(Springer, 2022-09) Knox, J. L.; Gönültaş, Seçil; Gibson, S. M.; Mulvey, K. L.
This study aimed to examine the complex relations between two known predictors of bystander decisions in bullying incidents—empathy and family contextual factors—and bystander help-seeking from two preferred choices (i.e., adults and peers). In particular, we examined the mediating role of cognitive and affective empathy on the relation between parental attachment and bystander help-seeking in 826 adolescents in the 6th and 9th grade (49.9% female) using four bullying/acts of aggression scenarios. Results indicated that affective, but not cognitive, empathy served as a partial mediator for the relationship in boys, suggesting that both empathy and the family context can play a role in bystander decisions to intervene. On the other hand, empathy did not serve as a mediator for girls, suggesting that girls do not need the added push of empathy in order to intervene in bullying situations. Results suggest emphasizing home-school collaboration for boys, in particular, in bullying prevention programs in order to maximize efforts of bystanders. © 2022, The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature.
Open Access
Should I invite them? Bystanders' inclusivity judgements towards outgroup victims and ingroup bullies in intergroup bullying
(John Wiley and Sons Ltd., 2021-09-16) Gönültaş, Seçil; Yavuz, H. M.; Mulvey, K. L.
This study examined bystanders' judgements of bullying and their inclusivity towards refugee victims and in group bully peers. Participants included 587 Turkish adolescents (Mage=13.14,SD=1.60) who were presented with two stories: intergroup (Syrian refugee victim) and intragroup(Turkish victim) bullying. They indicated acceptability of bullying, retaliation, and how likely they would be to include victims and bullies in different social contexts. Empathy, prejudice, desired social distance, and peer norms towards Syrian refugees were examined as predictors. Adolescents in schools with a higher number of Syrian peers were more likely to expect they would include the Syrian victim than adolescents in schools with a lower number of Syrian peers. Further, adolescents with higher empathy were more likely to include the Syrian victim while adolescents with higher prejudice and desired social distance were less likely to include the Syrian victim. The results highlight the importance of attending to bystanders' future interactions with victims and bullies, as bystanders have the opportunity to challenge injustice by promoting inclusive school climates in diverse societies. Please refer to the Supplementary Material section to find this article's Community and Social Impact Statement.
Open Access
Teamwork, communication and empathy: a case study examining social skills in drama class
(2017-05) Goodman, David Sidney
This single case study utilizes a mixed method design to explore the learning of key social skills, Teamwork, Communication and Empathy, in a middle school drama class, and whether these skills contributed to learning in other academic subjects. The purpose of this study was to investigate the viewpoints of drama from different perspectives in the educational system. Participants were 193 sixth, seventh, and eighth grade students and 40 teachers and administrators from a private International Baccalaureate (IB) school in Ankara, Turkey. Quantitative data consisted of surveys exploring the level of agreement regarding the learning of these social skills in drama class, and their effects on learning in other subjects. Qualitative data consisted of in depth semi-structured interviews with 12 students and 12 teachers and administrators. Quantitative data were analysed using both descriptive and inferential statistics; inductive content analysis was utilized for qualitative data. The analysis sought to uncover patterns and connections between stakeholder perceptions about drama, and draw conclusions for improved teaching methods, curriculum design and cross-curricular projects. Results revealed that students, teachers and administrators valued drama. Students recognised drama’s effect on teamwork and communication, with less support for the development of empathy and the transference of skills to other subjects. Teachers and administrators returned higher scores than students in all categories, and voiced strong support for drama and its potential for social skills development in children. Implications for classroom practice are developed and discussed based on the results.