Personality and Empathy in Counseling Students a Dissertation
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
Personality and Empathy in Counseling Students A dissertation presented to the faculty of The Patton College of Education of Ohio University In partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree Doctor of Philosophy Kathleen A. Kutsko May, 2019 © 2019 Kathleen A. Kutsko. All Rights Reserved. 2 This dissertation titled The Relationship Between Personality and Empathy in Counseling Students by KATHLEEN A. KUTSKO has been approved for the Department of Counseling and Higher Education and The Patton College of Education by Yegan Pillay Associate Professor of Counseling and Higher Education Renée A. Middleton Dean, The Patton College of Education 3 Abstract KUTSKO, KATHLEEN A., Ph.D. May 2019, Counselor Education The Relationship Between Personality and Empathy in Counseling Students Director of Dissertation: Yegan Pillay Reports of increased incidences of violence, hate crimes, and discrimination in communities around the globe may be linked to a lack of empathy. Empathy is especially important to cultivate for counselors, as research indicates that empathy is an essential ingredient for developing successful counseling relationships, leading to positive change for clients. The purpose of the present study is to examine the relationship between personality and empathy in a sample of counseling students using the Myers Briggs Type Indicator® as the personality measure and the Interpersonal Reactivity Index as the empathy measure. A series of MANOVAs were conducted with results reporting significant differences in empathy based on personality type. Specifically, the type preferences of Extraversion, Intuition, Feeling, and Perceiving had significantly higher empathy scores than their opposite preferences of Introversion, Sensing, Thinking and Judging, respectively. These findings provide a starting point for future investigations in the areas of personality and empathy in counselor education and supervision programs. This research was supported by a grant from the Myers-Briggs Company (themyersbriggs.com). 4 Dedication This dissertation is dedicated first and foremost to my children: Melanie, Nathan, and Brian. My grandchildren: Finnian, Maclean, Crosby, Wilson, Archer, and Aoife. May you grow up in a world full of empathy and compassion. 5 Acknowledgments Immense gratitude and sincere thanks first go to my dissertation chair and advisor, Dr. Yegan Pillay. Years before I began my doctoral studies, you told me that timing is everything— that I would begin my studies when the time was right. Those words of wisdom helped me throughout this entire process. Every time I worried about how long this seemed to be taking me, I would reflect on those words and trust that the timing and my process was exactly as it should be. You have been a mentor, colleague, friend, and fellow searcher always supporting me with your knowledge, expertise and Zen attitude. I faced many challenges throughout these five years. You were always there with compassion and empathy. To you I say: “Namaste”. I would also like to thank the members of my dissertation committee. Dr. Christine Suniti Bhat, thank you for your encouragement, guidance, sense of humor, and compassion throughout my dissertation journey, especially through some of the most challenging times. I could always count on time spent with you either in person or by phone to boost my spirits and fire up my enthusiasm. You are an excellent teacher and writer. I learned so much from you. Dr. Peter Mather, thank you for the insight you brought to my research and your excellent editing assistance. Dr. Gordon Brooks, thank you for teaching me to not fear and actually enjoy quantitative research! I appreciate that you took the time to answer my questions and sit with me as I began to analyze my data. Your interest in the MBTI® was an added benefit. 6 Others I wish to thank include Hannah and Robert at the Graduate Student Writing Center in Alden Library. I could not have done this without your competent assistance. And many thanks to Porsche. You are a brilliant teacher who helped me to review and analyze my data. Thank you to all my family and friends. Your support, encouragement, phone calls, and positive energy kept me afloat. My friends in Athens, Ohio are the village needed by me to bring this dream to fruition, and I am truly grateful to all. Diane, you are the definition of a true friend, through thick and thin. Carla, our friendship runs deep as we are always on the same page. Roxanne, my friend, colleague, and mentor for 25 years! And most importantly thank you to my children., Melanie, Nathan, and Brian. You have provided me with love and encouragement, never doubting my decision to start this journey and always knowing that I would complete it. You are my angels and I love you all more than anything… to the moon and beyond! Thank you to Dan, Marlena, and Maria, my son and daughters in law. You are all so wonderful and mean so much to me. Thank you, Dan, especially for your explanation of probability!! And my darling grandchildren, six of them now, providing me with unconditional love and sweetness. I love you Finnian, Maclean, Crosby, Wilson, Archer and Aoife! 7 Table of Contents Page Abstract ...........................................................................................................................3 Dedication .......................................................................................................................4 Acknowledgments ...........................................................................................................5 List of Tables................................................................................................................. 10 List of Figures ............................................................................................................... 11 Chapter 1: Introduction .................................................................................................. 12 Background of the Study .......................................................................................... 13 Rationale for the Study ............................................................................................ 15 The Role of Empathy in the Counseling Relationship .............................................. 20 History of the Study of Personality .......................................................................... 24 Modern Personality Theories ................................................................................... 25 Psychological Type Theories ................................................................................... 27 The Myers Briggs Type Indicator®.......................................................................... 28 Significance of the Study ......................................................................................... 29 Purpose of the Study and Participants ...................................................................... 30 Research Question ................................................................................................... 31 Hypotheses .............................................................................................................. 32 Overview of Research Design .................................................................................. 32 Delimitations of the Study ....................................................................................... 33 Definition of Terms ................................................................................................. 33 Summary ................................................................................................................. 36 Chapter 2: Literature Review ......................................................................................... 37 Information Retrieval ............................................................................................... 37 The Importance of Empathy and Personality to Professional Counseling.................. 38 The Relationship Between Empathy and Counseling Outcomes ............................... 40 An Historical Overview of Empathy Research ......................................................... 40 Empathy as a Dispositional Construct ...................................................................... 41 The Link Between Personality and Empathy ............................................................ 42 The Relationship Between the MBTI®, the NEO-PI and the NEO-PI-R .................. 54 The MBTI® and Empathy ....................................................................................... 60 Summary ................................................................................................................. 63 8 Chapter 3: Methodology ................................................................................................ 65 Research Question ................................................................................................... 65 Research Hypotheses: .............................................................................................. 65 Research Design ...................................................................................................... 66 Population and Participants ...................................................................................... 67 Sampling Plan and Selection Criteria ....................................................................... 67 Instrumentation .......................................................................................................