| The empathic response, understanding and then emotionally identifying with another’s point-of-view, is an aptitude that likely provides insight about another’s personality characteristics. Following Funder’s (1995) Realistic Accuracy Model, one’s empathic response is likely to allow him/her to detect more trait relevant cues made available by a target, and then utilize that information in forming an impression. To this point, accurately understanding others’ thoughts and feelings has been suggested as a necessary condition for accurate trait judgment (Hall, Gunnery, Letzring, Carney, & Colvin, 2017; Ickes, 1993). Indeed, a recent study found the tendency to perspective-take and show empathy as positively related to distinctive accuracy, normative accuracy, and the assumed similarity of trait judgments (Colman, Letzring, & Biesanz, 2017).
Extending this connection, the purpose of this dissertation was to test for a causal link between the empathic responses of perspective-taking and empathy and the accuracy of personality trait judgments. Video-based manipulations of perspective-taking and empathy were created using the framework of Galinsky and colleagues (2008; 2011; 2013), and their efficacy was tested in two pilot studies. However, these videos did not produce significant differences in the level of state empathic response. Thus, text-based manipulations found within the extent literature were used in the main study. The role of training intensity was also investigated by presenting the empathic manipulations
(perspective-taking and empathy) using only an instructional design, a design with instruction and practice, or a design with instruction, practice, and then feedback.
Planned analyses revealed no main effect for empathic manipulation or training intensity, nor an interaction between the two factors, on levels of normative and distinctive accuracy. Despite these null results, the relation between trait empathic tendencies and trait judgment accuracy was partially replicated. Moreover, the exploratory analyses indicated a significant positive relation between normative and distinctive trait judgment accuracy and state levels of perspective-taking and empathy, which extends previous work (Colman et al., 2017). Overall, this dissertation provides additional insight into the link between trait judgment accuracy and judges’ levels of empathic response, as well as identifying several future directions for research surrounding these two important interpersonal processes. |