A human’s capacity to empathize with others enhances their ability to not only connect, but also communicate with those around them (cite). One’s ability to empathize with others is a skill which is developed through transactional processes with those in their environment. Parenting style has been identified as one such predictor of empathy, with permissive parenting predicting lower levels of offspring empathy and authorative parenting predicting higher levels of empathy. Children who have better control over their emotions through emotional regulation, also tend to exhibit higher levels of empathy. Examining variables within the parent-child dyad which may contribute to the development of empathy in adulthood could inform both parents and health professionals on ways to foster healthy emotional development in children. We hypothesize that one’s views of their parents’ parenting style from childhood will be related to current empathy. Further, we hypothesize that the relation between parenting style and empathy will be explained by the impact of parenting style on family emotion climate during childhood, which, in turn, will predict emotion regulation abilities, which will predict empathy. Participants (N= 474, age M = 20.38, SD = 4.7) were recruited through the REACH (Religion, Emotions, and Current Health) survey study, in which data was collected via self-report. Retrospective measures regarding the participant’s childhood include the Parental Authority Questionnaire (PAQ) which was used to assess parenting style, and the Parent Attitude Toward Children’s Expressiveness Scale (PACES) which was used to examine the participant’s perceptions of how accepting their parents were of their emotions during childhood (accepting emotion climate). Measures examining current emotional regulation and empathy were the Difficulties in Emotional Regulation Scale (DERS) and the Toronto Empathy Questionnaire (TEQ). Direct bivariate analyses and multivariate analyses will be conducted using SPSS and the PROCESS macro. Although authoritarian parenting has not been significantly linked with a lessened ability for children to regulate emotions, we predict this relationship may become significant through a serial mediation of the emotional climate of the home and emotional regulation. We hypothesize authoritarian parenting will predict a less accepting family emotion climate, which will in turn predict difficulties in emotional regulation and thus result in lower levels of empathy. Conversely, Authoritative parenting is proposed to predict a more accepting family emotion climate and better ability regulating emotions, which is hypothesized to in turn predict greater empathy.

This study was conducted to investigate the empathy between human chatbot interactions amongcomputer science students at Uppsala University, Sweden. This was done by exploring howparticipants perceive anthropomorphic chatbots as machines or humans, the existence of verbalabuse during human chatbot interactions, and the expectation of chatbot helpfulness dependingon gender dynamics. A semi-structured interview methodology with five students was conductedfor qualitative data collection. The collected data was manually analyzed using thematic analysis.The results of this study found that there is empathy in human chatbot interaction, regardless ofwhether participants perceive anthropomorphic chatbots as humans or machines. However, thelevel of empathy is generally low as participants frustrate when they are dissatisfied with theresponse of chatbots and exit the chatbots without expressing their frustration, and they usuallyforget their frustration and come again with other questions another time. The study also showsthat participants might expect more help and politeness if chatbots are more likely to be female.

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In our increasingly interconnected world, intercultural communication has gained paramount significance, particularly in contexts characterized by unprecedented cultural diversity, such as healthcare settings. The influx of newcomers from diverse cultural backgrounds necessitates effective intercultural communication, yet this challenge remains uncharted. Nonverbal behaviours, a key communication component, also remain understudied despite their significant cultural variation and influence on the perception of effective communication. Thus, healthcare professionals face the challenge of navigating intricate cultural norms and communication styles without evidence-based guidelines. This dissertation seeks to unravel the interplay between cultural intelligence and empathic communication through three papers exploring the communication recipient's perspective, nonverbal behaviours' role, and the communication senders' implications. The findings challenge the previous focus on empathy senders and highlight the role of empathy recipients. Nonverbal cues are recognized as pivotal in communication, and culture plays a significant role in interpreting these cues, influencing how empathy is conveyed across cultural boundaries. The dissertation's significance extends beyond healthcare, offering valuable insights for policymakers, international managers, and individuals engaged in intercultural interactions. Education on culturally specific nonverbal cues can enhance self-awareness and improve the capability to provide empathic services to clients from diverse cultural backgrounds. In conclusion, this dissertation is a substantial stride forward in understanding intercultural communication within healthcare, emphasizing the importance of empathy, cultural intelligence, and nonverbal communication. Recognizing cultural differences in nonverbal cues and fostering cultural competence is crucial for healthcare providers to improve patient experiences and their quality of care.

An aging global population has brought attention to the presence of age bias in health care and the role it plays in contributing to health disparities in the older population. This increased awareness provides nurse educators with an opportunity to examine innovative, evidence-informed educational interventions that aim to decrease bias and change attitudes. Immersive, experiential strategies that promote empathy may improve attitudes towards older adults. There is limited research in nursing education that examines the effect of immersive teaching interventions on learner empathy and attitudes. A quasi-experimental control group study was conducted to evaluate the effect of a virtual reality experience on nursing student empathy and attitudes towards older adults. Learners assigned to the intervention participated in a virtual reality experience where they were immersed into the story of an older adult. The virtual reality experience provided learners with the opportunity to view segments of the scenario from the first-person perspective. Virtual reality also allowed them to experience sensory and other age-related changes associated with aging and daily life. The control group completed a narrative case study that presented the same story depicted in the virtual reality. Lastly, all learners participated in a standardized patient simulation to evaluate empathic behaviors. There were no statistically significant differences in empathy or attitudes towards older adults between groups; however, both groups had significant improvements on both variables. The concept of narrative transportation, which suggests that students engaged in narrative stories are likely to have improved empathy and a change in beliefs and attitudes towards the story character and representative demographic, was used to examine participant engagement. Engagement scores did not differ between groups. Associations between the study variables were explored. Positive and statistically significant relationships were observed between empathy and attitudes towards older adults, engagement and empathy, engagement and empathic behaviors, empathy and empathic behaviors, and engagement and attitudes towards older adults. Further analysis showed that learner engagement and empathy predicted empathic behaviors. These findings add to the limited nursing education research on empathy and virtual reality and show that narrative patient stories can improve empathy and attitudes towards older adults in nursing students. These findings add to the evidence that supports the use of virtual reality in nursing education; however, the VR modality may not be superior to other educational strategies when presenting patient stories.

This Must Be the Place is a collection of short stories that take place in Massachusetts, America. Each story exists as a subtle celebration of the ordinary moments of our lives that softly, and gradually, shape us over time. This testament to the every-day is characterized by detailed, tender depictions of brief conversations, picnics in parks, afternoon car rides, and trips to the grocery store with past lovers. Although the narrators and other orbiting characters in the stories are all different, they are bound together by an insatiable curiosity and fascination with the world and the human condition. Inspired by works from authors such as Raymond Carver, Richard Brautigan, William Trevor, Carrie Fountain, and Andre Dubus, This Must Be the Place is a comment on how we, as people, are as defined by the decisions we do not make as the ones that we do. The characters in each piece confront choices and the invariable emotional consequences that will follow them, either temporarily or for the foreseeable future. These consequences propel the narratives, causing anxiety, uncertainty, and at times even excitement for all of those involved. Similarly, and perhaps more importantly, because of these consequences, the gears of the characters’ hearts shift, ever so slightly, in new, unexplored directions. As a whole, This Must Be the Place is about the understated importance embedded in every connection, misconnection, beginning, and ending.

This study looked at the relationship between personality functioning and generalized anxiety severity with the use of the Level of Personality Functioning – Self-Report Scale (LPFS-SR). This scale looks at the four core functions of personality: Identity, Intimacy, Empathy and Self-Direction. The population consisted of undergraduate students from the University of Central Florida who completed the study online (n = 1335; 63.7% female; mean age = 19.85, SD = 3.64, range = 18-57). Findings revealed that generalized anxiety severity related to more identity and empathy problems in both men and women. For both findings, women showed a stronger effect size than men. Future longitudinal research in a psychiatric sample can help clarify causal directions of these relationships. The results of this study can be applied to clinical settings to raise clinicians' awareness to further explore identity and empathy problems in individuals exhibiting generalized anxiety.

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