Thesis (Ph. D.)--West Virginia University, 2007. / Title from document title page. Document formatted into pages; contains viii, 86 p. : ill. Includes abstract. Includes bibliographical references (p. 45-59).

Thesis (doctoral)--La Salle University, 2005. / ProQuest dissertations and theses ; AAT 3227730. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 31-37)

Thesis (M.A.)--University of West Florida, 2006. / Title from title page of source document. Document formatted into pages; contains 77 pages. Includes bibliographical references.

Η σχέση μεταξύ των επιστημόνων της υγείας και των ασθενών-πελατών αυτών διαρκώς εξελίσσεται και έχει συγκεντρώσει το ενδιαφέρον της διεθνούς βιβλιογραφίας. Οι ασθενείς είναι αυτοί που καθορίζουν την επιτυχία ή αποτυχία του συστήματος της υγείας. Για το λόγο αυτό γίνονται προσπάθειες ώστε να ανιχνευτούν οι πεποιθήσεις τους όχι μόνο για τις υπηρεσίες που τους προσφέρονται αλλά και για τους παρόχους των υπηρεσιών αυτών. Στόχος της εργασίας αυτής της ήταν να μελετήσει την σχέση μεταξύ των ασθενών-πελατών και του φαρμακοποιού στο σύγχρονο φαρμακείο. Πιο συγκεκριμένα, εξετάζεται κυρίως η ενσυναίσθηση του φαρμακοποιού και κατόπιν η επικοινωνία με τον φαρμακοποιό και η εμπιστοσύνη σε αυτόν. Επίσης διερευνάται η ικανοποίηση των ασθενών-πελατών. Για την διεξαγωγή της παρούσας έρευνας διαμοιράστηκε ανώνυμο ερωτηματολόγιο το οποίο συμπληρώθηκε από 113 άτομα. Οι συμμετέχοντες κάλυπταν όλες τις ηλικίες και έγινε προσπάθεια να βρίσκονται σε διάφορες περιοχές της Ελλάδας. Τα αποτελέσματα της έρευνας έδειξαν ότι γενικά ο Έλληνας φαρμακοποιός διαθέτει ενσυναίσθηση και την εφαρμόζει στην καθημερινότητα του για την αποτελεσματική επικοινωνία με τους πελάτες του. Ακόμα βρέθηκε ότι η εμπιστοσύνη στον φαρμακοποιό είναι υψηλή. Οι ασθενείς-πελάτες εμφανίζονται ιδιαίτερα ικανοποιημένοι γενικά όσον αφορά τις συναλλαγές τους στο φαρμακείο. / --

Studies indicate that young only children are more likely than those with siblings to have egocentric tendencies. Egocentrism is a maladaptive behavior from a lack of Theory of Mind understanding, which is the ability to take on the perspectives of others and to discern emotional cues. The current study determines whether or not only children are more likely respond negatively to teacher criticism. Only children (N=100) and those with siblings (N=100) aged six years were be tested on tasks measuring egocentrism, ToM understanding, and their response to teacher constructive criticism. Only children are expected to have lower ToM task scores, respond more negatively to criticism, and to be more likely to display traits of egocentrism than those with siblings. These potential results indicate that there is something developmentally beneficial in having a sibling(s), which promotes social and emotional competency in young children that is not necessarily prevalent for only children. Further research should examine children at an even younger age to determine when and how the difference in ToM understanding occurs.

Bakgrund:Medkänsla och empati är en essentiell del i sjuksköterskeyrket. Compassion fatigue (CF) kan drabba sjuksköterskan när den emotionella utmaningen som yrket innebär blir för påfrestande och försämrar den egna hälsan. CF kan leda till en försämrad förmåga att ge en god och omsorgsfull vård till patienterna. Syfte:Att belysa compassion fatigue ur ett sjuksköterskeperspektiv. Metod:En litteraturöversikt med kvalitativ design. En induktiv ansats har tillämpats. CINAHL, PsycINFO och PubMed användes som databaser och genererade i 12 artiklar.  Resultat:Behålla balans mellan privatliv och arbetsliv, vikten av stödoch aspekter relaterade till vårdandetvar de tre huvudkategorier som kom fram. Sjuksköterskor löper en högre risk att drabbas av CF när arbetslivet påverkar privatlivet på ett negativt sätt. När sjuksköterskan inte kunde lindra patientens lidande eller när bristande stöd infann sig ökade också risken för CF. Adekvat stöd och det som ansågs givande med yrket kunde däremot motverka CF. Slutsats:CF påverkar sjuksköterskans eget välmående, vilket i sin tur kan leda till bristande vårdkvalitet. Att belysa begreppet och dess innebörd kan hjälpa att identifiera tecken på CF. En ökad kunskap kan leda till utveckling av personliga strategier och förbättringsarbete inom hälso- och sjukvården för att motverka CF. / Background:Compassion and empathy is an essential part of nursing. Compassion fatigue (CF) can happen to nurses when the emotional challenges in the profession is too much to handle which weakens their own health. CF can cause a compromised ability to provide a good and compassionate care.  Aim:To illuminate compassion fatigue from a nurse-perspective.  Method:A literature review with qualitative design. An inductive approach has been applied. CINAHL, PsycINFO and PubMed was used as databases and generated in 12 articles. Result:Three main categories appeared; keeping balance between work and personal life, importance of supportand aspects related to caring. Nurses run a higher risk of developing CF when the work affects their personal-life in a negative way. The risk for CF was also heightened when the nurse was not able to ease the patients suffering or if a lack of support occurred. On the contrary, adequate support and the rewarding parts of the profession could combat CF.  Conclusion:CF affect the nurses well-being which can lead to an inadequate care. Illuminating the phenomenon and its meaning can provide help to identify signs of CF. Increased knowledge can result in a development of personal strategies as well as an improvement in the healthcare system in order to prevent CF.

I flera så kallade empathy games används författaren som en berättarteknik för att övertala spelaren om att narrativet är grundat på verkligheten. Gemensamt för dessa spel är att syftet med dem är att få spelaren att känna empati eller få en ökad förståelse. Om författaren kan användas för att få spelaren att känna empati undersöks därför i detta arbete med hjälp av två textbaserade spelartefakter och frågeställningen lyder som följande: hur upplever spelaren empati i ett narrativ när författaren är närvarande respektive när den inte är det? Dessa spelartefakter testades av tre respektive fyra informanter under observation. Informanterna intervjuades sedan och datan som samlades in kunde analyseras och jämföras. Slutsatser som kunde dras var att de som spelade prototypen med en påstådd verklig författare som berättare, istället för en fiktiv sådan, hade en starkare reaktion. Denna vetskapen skulle till exempel lämpa sig vid skapandet av spel som är tänkta att informera om stigmatiserade samhällsgrupper.

In everyday life, there are many situations that elicit emotional reactions to an individual's plight, leading to empathic thoughts and helping behaviors. But what if the observed situation involves fictional characters rather than real life people? The main goal of this dissertation was to investigate the extent that empathic thoughts and helping behaviors characterize children's responses to fictional social interactions, as well as to real ones. Another goal was to develop a new measure of prosocial behavior. In Study 1, 60 undergraduate students (36 female; Mage = 19.87, SDage = 4.46) played two computerized ball-tossing games, one with 3 co-players who were believed to be other students and one in which a ball was tossed between 3 walls. During the second half of each game, one of the co-players/walls was excluded by the other two co-players/walls; the participant's subsequent increase in passes to the excluded co-player/wall was recorded. Participants increased their passes to the excluded real co-player more than to the excluded wall, indicating that the increase in the Real Condition were attempts to help another person, rather than simply to even out the distribution of passes. Study 2 extended these findings to children and tested the relationship between reactions to real and fictional social interactions. Seventy-one 5- and 8-year-old children (36 females; 35 5-year-olds: Mage = 5 years, 8.2 months, SDage = 2.4 months; 36 8-year-olds: Mage = 8 years, 6.5 months, SDage = 2.9 months) played the computerized ball tossing game with (1) other children they believed to be real, (2) novel cartoon characters, and (3) walls. One of the co-players/walls was excluded in the second half of each game. Although children reported similar empathic reactions towards the excluded real and fictional co-players, they increased their passes to the excluded real co-player more than to the excluded fictional character or wall (controlling for individual differences in real life empathy). These results suggest that children's emotional reactions to what they experience in fiction and in real life are similar, but they take the behavioral steps to help another individual only when that individual is believed to be a real person.

Several early Italian Renaissance sacred images underwent significant restorations shortly after their completion, despite the fact that the paintings had suffered no apparent damage. Paintings that were completed in the mid-to-late 1200s were restored only 30-40 years later. This dissertation explores the motivation behind the premature restorations of these intact and newly-created sacred images. As religious artworks, these objects were expected to move their viewers spiritually and to work as devotional intermediaries between the viewer and the sacred figures represented in the image. Some scholars contend that these paintings were prematurely restored in an effort to align the images with contemporary conceptions of style. Based on a scholarly analysis of historical and analytical literature, and close examination of the objects, this dissertation asserts a more compelling and nuanced motive for the restoration of these sacred images: these restorations were prompted by a desire to increase their spiritual efficacy by forging an empathic connection with viewers. The selective restorations primarily focused on repainting the faces and hands of important figures, with little or no repainting devoted to drapery, background or supporting figures. Repainting figures’ faces and hands enabled viewers to connect emotionally with these painted intermediaries and to create a greater empathic bond. I examine the motivation for artists to restore images prematurely and selectively within several contextual frameworks: the impact of viewers’ empathic connection with images is rooted in art historical and rhetorical theory and supported by current brain research; the appeal of early Italian Renaissance vernacular culture created a receptive environment for empathic connections to literature, poetry, devotional music and imagery; and early art historical writings on empathy. Chapter One examines the history of early Italian Renaissance restoration practices. Chapter Two explores how the art of Duccio di Buoninsegna and Giotto di Bondone motivated the selective repainting of devotional images. Chapters Three and Four present case studies of early Italian Renaissance sacred images that were prematurely repainted and reframed. Specific works examined include Coppo di Marcovaldo’s Madonna del Bordone, 1261, Guido da Siena’s Maestà, ca. 1270, and Taddeo Gaddi’s Madonna and Child with Four Saints, ca. 1340-45.

This dissertation explored the subjective experience and neural correlates of self-conscious emotion (SCE) understanding in adolescent males with high-functioning Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) and age-matched neurotypical (NT) males (ages 11-17). Study I investigated group differences in SCE attributions (the ability to recognize SCEs conveyed by others) and empathic SCEs (the ability/tendency to feel empathic SCEs for others) in 56 adolescents (ASD = 30; NT = 26). It also explored associations between SCE processing and a triad of social cognitive abilities (self-awareness/introspection, perspective-taking/cognitive empathy, affective empathy) and autistic symptoms/traits. Study II investigated the neural correlates of SCE processing in 52 adolescents (ASD = 27; NT = 25). During an MRI scan, participants completed the Self-Conscious Emotions Task-Child, which included 24 salient, ecologically-valid videos of adolescents participating in a singing competition. Videos represented two factors: emotion (embarrassment, pride) and perspective-taking (PT) demands (low, high). In low PT clips, singers’ emotions matched their performance (sing poorly, act embarrassed); in high PT clips, they did not (sing well, act embarrassed). Participants used a 4-point Likert scale to rate how intensely embarrassed and proud singers felt. They made congruent ratings, which matched the conveyed emotions (rating how embarrassed an embarrassed singer felt), and incongruent ratings, which did not match the conveyed emotions (rating how proud an embarrassed singer felt). Outside the scanner, participants rated how empathically embarrassed and proud they felt for the singers. The ASD and NT groups made similarly intense inferred congruent and empathic congruent SCE ratings, suggesting that emotion attribution and affective empathy are intact in ASD. However, the ASD group made more intense inferred incongruent SCE ratings, suggesting that emotion attribution in ASD may be more strongly impacted by the situational context. An over-reliance on contextual cues may reflect a strict adherence to rule-following and serve as a compensatory strategy for attenuated mentalizing. Neuroimaging results support this interpretation. The ASD group recruited atypical neural patterns within social cognition regions, visual perception regions, salience regions, and sensorimotor regions. These findings similarly suggest an over-reliance on abstract social conceptual knowledge when processing discrepant affective and contextual cues. Implications for intervention are discussed. / 10000-01-01