Abstract

This study classified empathy types as follows: Perspective taking, Fantasy, Empathic concern, and Personal distress, and examined the coping styles and psychological adaptations of the empathy types. Three clusters were drawn from 481 adults(44.7% male, average age 33.7). The ‘active empathy’ group with high perspective taking, fantasy, empathic concern but low personal distress; The ‘emotional empathy’ group with low cognitive empathy but high emotional empathy while the ‘inactive empathy’ group with both low cognitive and emotional empathy were affirmed. The ‘active empathy group used adaptive coping styles with little avoidant coping, showing low psychiatric symptoms and high self-esteem. The ’emotional empathy’ group used less adaptive coping style but with frequent avoidant coping, style, and they were the most vulnerable psychological adaptation. The ‘inactive empathy’ group used low frequency of both adaptive and maladaptive coping strategies, but showed relatively good psychological adaptation. The relationship between cognitive empathy and emotional empathy and the characteristics of personal distress and empathic concern were discussed.