Abstract

The phenomena of empathy occupies an unusual place in contemporary psychological writings. It is considered to be a critical determinant of social interactions, ranging from the behavioral interchange between parent and child, the development of social understanding, positive social behavior such as altruism and helping, to the intimacy and effectiveness of communication in the dyadic relationship between therapist and client. Since most of studies on empathy were based on the American people, the effect of cultural variables was not fully investigated. Thus, it was postulated that an intercultural study comparing empathy for people from two radically different child-rearing environments would better highlight the possible effects of this variable. The responses to the Emotional Empathy Test and the Parent Behavior Questionnaire of 60 Korean university students were compared to those from 32 Canadian university students. Canadian students were more empathic than Korean students, and females more empathic than males from both groups. Support and control for parents of Canadian students were higher than those of Korean students. For the effect of parent behavior on empathy, significant correlations of parental control were appeared to be .42 to .54 for Korean male students only, and that of paternal support appeared to be .45 for Canadian female students only. These differences were discussed as attributed to different patterns of discipline and culture.