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

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.