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Personality Attributes of Social Work Students:An Assessment of Empathy, Emotional Intelligence, and Resilience


Affiliations
1 University of Strathclyde, Glasgow, Scotland, United Kingdom
2 Social Work, Cauvery College for Women Tiruchirappalli, Tamil Nadu, India
     

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Standardised instruments were administered to assess 73 social work students at various levels of their degree programme in Tiruchirappalli, India, with regard to the manifestation of empathy, emotional intelligence and resilience. A cross-sectional comparative design was used for the study. The Connor and Davidson Resilience scale (2003), Empathy Assessment Index (2011) and Emotional Intelligence Scale (1998) were administered to the respondents to assess the manifestation of the variables of interest. Data was subjected to statistical analysis. Significant differences were seen between students of different cohorts on the variables studied, with low levels manifested in students of year 1 as against those in their final year. Significant positive relationships were seen between the three dimensions studied. Empathy and emotional intelligence were extracted as predictors of resilience through regression analysis. Implications of the findings have been discussed in terms of the need to enhance these attributes in social work students through the provision of appropriate curricular experiences.

Keywords

Resilience, Empathy, Emotional Intelligence, Social Work Students.
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  • Personality Attributes of Social Work Students:An Assessment of Empathy, Emotional Intelligence, and Resilience

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Authors

Selwyn Stanley
University of Strathclyde, Glasgow, Scotland, United Kingdom
Metilda G. Bhuvaneshwari
Social Work, Cauvery College for Women Tiruchirappalli, Tamil Nadu, India

Abstract


Standardised instruments were administered to assess 73 social work students at various levels of their degree programme in Tiruchirappalli, India, with regard to the manifestation of empathy, emotional intelligence and resilience. A cross-sectional comparative design was used for the study. The Connor and Davidson Resilience scale (2003), Empathy Assessment Index (2011) and Emotional Intelligence Scale (1998) were administered to the respondents to assess the manifestation of the variables of interest. Data was subjected to statistical analysis. Significant differences were seen between students of different cohorts on the variables studied, with low levels manifested in students of year 1 as against those in their final year. Significant positive relationships were seen between the three dimensions studied. Empathy and emotional intelligence were extracted as predictors of resilience through regression analysis. Implications of the findings have been discussed in terms of the need to enhance these attributes in social work students through the provision of appropriate curricular experiences.

Keywords


Resilience, Empathy, Emotional Intelligence, Social Work Students.

References