Abstract
This study examines empathy in Black/African American undergraduate students at a Historically Black College (HBCU) after the COVID-19 pandemic. Prior research suggests empathy benefits communication, emotional well-being, and academic performance. However, less is known about student empathy, particularly among Black students at HBCUs. We surveyed 63 students to assess empathy using the Interpersonal Reactivity Index (IRI). Results showed variations in empathy dimensions, with empathic concern and personal distress negatively correlating with academic performance. These findings require further investigation with a larger sample size. The study contributes to understanding empathy’s role in academic success for Black/African American students at HBCUs.
Introduction
Empathy, recognized as a fundamental aspect of emotional ability, plays a significant role in enhancing communication skills, emotional regulation, and, ultimately, academic performance. Ford (2016) highlighted the importance of empathy, particularly for Black/African American male students, suggesting its positive influence on both academic and emotional well-being. Whereas teacher empathy has been extensively studied, student empathy has received less attention (Aldrup et al., 2022). Peifer and Taasoobshirazi (2022) even found a decline in college students’ empathy during the COVID-19 pandemic. There is still a lack of clear understanding of empathy and its impact among Black/African American college students in Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU) after the pandemic. This study aims to bridge this knowledge gap.
Method
This study included a convenience sample of 63 Black/African American undergraduate students (40 males and 23 females; aged 22.29 ± 4.96) from a large, research-intensive HBCU. The Interpersonal Reactivity Index (IRI) was employed to assess four dimensions of empathy: perspective-taking (PT), empathic concern (EC), personal distress (PD), and fantasy (FS). Participants rated 28 items on a 5-point Likert scale, ranging from 1 (“Does not describe me well”) to 5 (“Describes me very well”).
Results
Empathy scores varied significantly across the IRI dimensions (p < .001), except for the combination of EC and PT which showed no difference (p = .66). Whereas EC and PD showed significant negative correlations with academic performance (p < .05), PT and FS did not show such associations (p > .05).
Discussion
This study acknowledges the presence of mixed correlations, which might be attributed not only to group differences but also to individual differences in personality traits. For example, individuals characterized as more agreeable may exhibit a heightened concern for others’ welfare, known as EC, while those with high levels of neuroticism may experience increased personal distress when confronted with others’ distress, referred to as PD. The negative correlation between academic performance and both EC and PD in this study highlights a potential challenge. For instance, caring for others is commendable; however, excessive empathic concern or feeling overwhelmed by others’ struggles might have impeded academic focus, consistent with findings by Tikkanen et al. (2022). Further research with a larger sample size is deemed necessary to validate these findings and explore the underlying factors contributing to this association among HBCU students.
Footnotes
Declaration of Conflicting Interests
The author declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.
Funding
The author received no financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.
