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Article Excerpt
We examined how culturally relevant variables, including universal-diverse orientation (UDO), an attitude characterized by awareness and acceptance of similarities and differences between self and others, and emotional intelligence, the ability to accurately monitor emotions, might be related to empathy. Two-hundred-and-eleven counseling graduate students completed measures of these variables, as well as a demographic sheet. Hierarchical regression analyses indicated that UDO and emotional intelligence, along with gender, significantly explained variance in empathy. Implications for effective mental health counseling across diverse settings are discussed.
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Definitions and measures of empathy have existed since the late 19th century (Duan & Hill, 1996). Empathy is generally referred to as the ability or process of placing self in others' shoes, "as if one was the other person" (Rogers, 1959, p. 210). In a review of research on empathy, Duan and Hill (1996) reported that considerable debate has occurred regarding the definition and nature of empathy. For example, early theorists proposed that empathy was primarily an emotional response involving care and concern for others (Allport, 1961), whereas others emphasized cognitive components of empathy, involving the intellectual understanding of others (Barrett-Lennard, 1962).
More recent theorists have attempted to delineate discrete components and processes of empathy. For example, Davis (1983a; 1996) proposed a multidimensional model of empathy, involving a combination of both cognitive and affective components. Regarding cognitive components, Davis described perspective-taking, the spontaneous ability to adopt the viewpoint of others, and fantasy, a tendency to imagine the feelings and actions of fictional figures, such as those found in movies or plays. Davis also proposed two distinct emotional components of empathy, empathic concern, involving feelings about others, such as sympathy and concern, and personal distress, feelings of anxiety or tension arising from interpersonal situations. Davis (1983a) demonstrated the usefulness of specifying discrete components of empathy, finding differential relations of these components with interpersonal functioning, self-esteem, and social competence. Davis found, for example, that perspective taking was positively linked with better functioning and higher self-esteem, whereas personal distress was linked with lower functioning and lower self-esteem.
Despite the lack of a common definition or theoretical approach, many professionals continue to regard empathy as a core component of effective mental health counseling (McLeod, 1999). Indeed, Pope and Kline (1999) found that expert counselors listed empathy among the top five personal characteristics of effective mental health counselors. Not surprisingly, developing empathy continues to be a primary goal of training in most graduate programs in mental health counseling (Ivey & Ivey, 2003; Okun, Shepard, & Eisenberg, 2000).
The importance or relevance of empathy in light of the increasingly diverse social world of today has received little theoretical or empirical attention. That is, while some scholars have called for a consideration of the cultural contexts of empathy (Duan & Hill, 1996; McLeod, 1999), little theory and research on empathy exists that shows the relevance or effectiveness of this construct across cultures. Patterson (1996) asserted that empathy is one of five universal counselor qualities essential to all counseling relationships. Sue and Sue (1999) concurred and acknowledged that understanding the world of the client is a key component of counseling that may transcend culture. However, other scholars have questioned whether empathy is truly possible toward people from different cultures (Patterson, 1996). Thus, further research and theory on the cultural implications and applications of empathy seems warranted.
Recently, the construct of universal-diverse orientation (UDO) was defined as a social attitude of awareness and acceptance of the similarities and differences that exist among people, as based, for example, on race, gender, and abilities (Miville et al., 1999). Miville et al. proposed that UDO measures an essential component of effective multicultural counseling, an overarching attitude of openness and acceptance of the various cultures to which clients belong (Vontress, 1996). Such an attitude presumably is based on the philosophical framework that human beings share commonalities with each other (i.e., universal), while at the same time having important differences (Miville et al., 1999). UDO has been correlated with positive racial identity, empathy, healthy narcissism, feminism, androgyny, homophobia and dogmatism (these latter two correlations being negative; Miville et al., 1999) as well as wellness variables, such as self-efficacy and coping skills (Miville, Romans, Johnson, & Lone, 2004). Previous researchers have found UDO is a critical aspect of multicultural competence, being a significant variable explaining variance in both multicultural knowledge and awareness among counselors (Constantine et al., 2001; Fuertes & Probst, 2002; Munley, Lidderdale, Thiagarajan, & Null, 2004; Yeh & Arora, 2003) as well as clients' expectations regarding effective multicultural counseling (Constantine & Arorash, 2001).
UDO seems particularly relevant in examining the ability to empathize with culturally different people. Openness to and acceptance of the cultural perspectives of others seems critical to the ability to understand more personal perspectives (Duan & Hill, 1996; McLeod, 1999). Indeed, perceptions of the similarities and differences that exist between self and others was recently described by Auger (2004) as an implicit assumption held by many mental health counselors about their clients that affect the counseling relationship. UDO may be a relevant construct for assessing empathy since it refers to the degree to which individuals believe that people are both similar and different from others, rather than rigidly assuming one or the other. UDO thus represents a variable potentially relevant to the establishment of professional helping relationships, particularly in a diverse social world. Exploring whether UDO significantly explains variance in...
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