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Korean Journal of Social and Personality Psychology

ISSN : 1229-0653

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Vol.27 No.2

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The Role of Relationship Closeness and Expectance-Congruency in Empathy

Korean Journal of Social and Personality Psychology / Korean Journal of Social and Personality Psychology, (P)1229-0653;
2013, v.27 no.2, pp.85-105
https://doi.org/10.21193/kjspp.2013.27.2.006


& (2013). The Role of Relationship Closeness and Expectance-Congruency in Empathy. Korean Journal of Social and Personality Psychology, 27(2), 85-105, https://doi.org/10.21193/kjspp.2013.27.2.006

Abstract

The present study assumes that individuals possess concrete scripts regarding appropriate ways of empathizing with others depending on the nature of the relationship with the target. It further assumes that people utilize these scripts in evaluating the appropriateness of a particular mode of empathy in a given interpersonal setting. Based on a pilot study examining college students' lay theories of empathy associated with varying degrees of relational closeness, we identified the depth of empathy as a key determinant of the appropriateness judgment. We hypothesized that deep (shallow) levels of empathy and corresponding expressions by the empathizer would be considered appropriate in a close (distant) relationship (expectancy-congruent empathy). In contrast, we expected that shallow (deep) levels of empathy and corresponding expressions by the empathizer would be considered inappropriate in a close (distant) relationship (expectancy-incongruent empathy). Accordingly, we predicted that expectancy-congruent empathy would lead to higher levels of relationship satisfaction than would expectancy-incongruent empathy. By manipulating the degree of relationship closeness with the target (close vs. distant) and the depth of empathy (deep vs. shallow), we found supportive evidence for our predictions both on the part of the target (Experiment 1) and the empathizer (Experiment 2). Implications of the findings and future directions were discussed.

keywords
relationship closeness, empathy, expectancy-congruent empathy, relationship satisfaction, emotions, 관계 친밀도, 공감, 기대-일치 공감, 관계 만족, 정서

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