Empathy and personality styles in medical students

Abstract

This study established the relationship between empathy and personality styles in medical students, considering the differences by gender. The participants were 278 students of the medical career of the Universidad del Azuay, Ecuador. The evaluation involved the Jefferson empathy scale and the Millon Index of Personality Styles. Relationships between empathy and personality styles were examined using Pearson's correlation coefficient and Hierarchical Multiple Linear Regression analysis, for comparisons by gender and educational levels, with both Student's t-test and analysis of variance used respectively. Results indicated that the factor structure of the empathy scale is invariant between men and women, noticing gender differences in care with compassion and total empathy, with women presenting a higher mean. Differences are visible by educational level, where the general empathy in the first three years grows progressively, and then slightly decrease. Concluding, female students present an average score of total empathy greater than men, with differences of empathy according to educational level.