Self-reported assessment of empathy and its variations in a sample of greek social workers

Abstract

The aim of the study was twofold: (a) to examine the way in which professional social workers perceive and apply in their practice the concept of empathy; (b) to explore sociodemographic factors, education/special training and work characteristics associated with their empathic skills. This is a cross-sectional study with a purposive sample of 203 Greek social workers. For the assessment of empathy, the Empathy Scale for Social Workers (ESSW) was used. The sample consisted mainly of female social workers with a mean age of 43.8 years. More than 70% of them were practicing the profession for more than 10 years. Nearly one-third participated in psychotherapy courses, and only half of them have been certified. On average, they reported high levels of empathy. Initial univariate analyses showed that empathy scores were significantly higher for older social workers, married, the more experienced, those who referred to working experience with disabled people or people having problems with substance use and the professionals who had obtained a certification in psychotherapy. ‘Having a middle work experience of 10–19 years’ was a significant correlate in all scales and related negatively to empathy indicating a burnout effect. The implications for social work education and future training are discussed.