Impact of Workplace Empathy Training on Employees’ Helping Behavior

DOI

10.2991/assehr.k.201125.021How to use a DOI?

Keywords

empathic concern, empathy training, helping behavior

Abstract

Helping coworkers outside one’s main job description has a positive impact on organizational achievement, a behavior known in industrial psychology research as helping behavior. Helping behavior is an employee’s activities that are performed but are not part of the main job function and that are focused on helping to solve personal problems or complete the work of colleagues. Empathic concern is an important factor related to the emergence of helping behavior and describes the emotional response of compassion and concern experienced by employees when they see a colleague in need. This two-part, applied research study sought to determine the factors associated with these behaviors. Study 1 was conducted to determine the relationship between empathic concern and helping behavior within an organization. Data were collected from 40 employees using the Interpersonal Citizenship Behavior scale and the Empathic Concern subscale of the International Reactivity Index. A significant positive relationship between empathic concern and helping behavior was observed. Study 2 was conducted to determine the results of an empathy at work training program. On the basis of the evaluation of the five participants, the program was effective with a significant increase in participants’ understanding of empathic concern. Participants also showed a more positive attitude toward empathic concern and helping behavior. From the observations of coworkers and direct supervisors, the research found that participants were able to demonstrate empathic concern and helping behavior by meeting more than half of the expected indicators.

Copyright

© 2020, the Authors. Published by Atlantis Press.

Open Access

This is an open access article distributed under the CC BY-NC license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/).

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TY  - CONF
AU  - Bunga Indira Artha
AU  - Arum Etikariena
PY  - 2020
DA  - 2020/11/27
TI  - Impact of Workplace Empathy Training on Employees’ Helping Behavior
BT  - Joint proceedings of the 3rd International Conference on Intervention and Applied Psychology (ICIAP 2019) and the 4th Universitas Indonesia Psychology Symposium for Undergraduate Research (UIPSUR 2019)
PB  - Atlantis Press
SP  - 243
EP  - 254
SN  - 2352-5398
UR  - https://doi.org/10.2991/assehr.k.201125.021
DO  - 10.2991/assehr.k.201125.021
ID  - Artha2020
ER  -