Empathy and Perceived Stress among College Students

Abstract

In the present study, the researchers have attempted to assess the relationship between empathy and perceived stress among college students of Karnataka and West Bengal in India. The data was collected using the Basic Empathy Scale for Adults (BES-A) and Perceived Stress Scale (PSS-10) from a sample of 214 college students, in which 107 were boys and 107 were girls. The study found that there was no significant relationship between their cognitive empathy and perceived stress but a significant relationship between their affective empathy and perceived stress was found and the correlation was found to be positive. The study also found that there was a significant gender difference in empathy among college students and girls had a higher empathy than boys, whereas in case of perceived stress, no significant gender difference was found; although the girls showed higher perceived stress levels than boys but the difference in their perceived stress levels was minimal. The implications of nurturing empathy and reducing perceived stress among the college students are discussed.