Thesis Title: Empathy and Quality of Friendship in University Students
Author Name: Laila Ashraf
Supervisor: Gul-E- Sehar & Iram Fatima
Year: 2017
Degree: MSC
Department: Institute of Applied Psychology
University: Punjab University, Lahore, Pakistan
Corresponding Address: Department of Applied Psychology, University of the Punjab, Lahore, Pakistan. Email: chairperson@appsy.pu.edu.pk, Phone: 92-42-9231245
Abstract
The present study was conducted to find out the relationship between empathy (affective and cognitive) and quality of friendship. It was hypothesized that affective and cognitive empathy would be positively related to quality of friendship. Correlation research design was used to find out relationship between Empathy (Affective and Cognitive) and Friendship quality (Safety, Closeness, Acceptance and help). Sample consisted of 200 students (male = 98; female = 102) within the age ranged of 20 to 25 years (M = 22.05; SD = 1.45) of three public sector Universities of Lahore city. Non-probability convenient sampling strategy was used to collect data. The Basic Empathy Scale (BES) by Jolliffe and Farrington (2006) and The Friendship Questionnaire by Thien, Razak and Jamil (2012) were used to collect data. The results showed that affective and cognitive empathy had significant positive correlated with the subscales of friendship quality (safety, closeness, acceptance and help). Further, the results showed that the affective empathy positively predicted subscales of friendship quality (safety, closeness, acceptance and help), but cognitive empathy only predicted helping behavior. These study findings highlight the importance to develop an intervention programs at university level to improve empathy, intimacy skills, and conflict management skills to promote positive qualities of friendship.
Keywords: Affective empathy, cognitive empathy, safety, closeness, acceptance, and help
