The aim of this thesis is to investigate empathy for persons from ethnical groups different than one’s own, an ability called ethnocultural empathy. A scale measuring ethnocultural empathy was translated and validated for a Swedish context and tested in a student sample, a majority of which were healthcare students. Three studies were performed. In study I, the validity and reliability of a Swedish translation of the Scale of Ethnocultural Empathy (SEE) was investigated (N=326). The purpose of study II was to investigate the association between basic empathy as measured by the Interpersonal Reactivity Index (Davis, 1983) and ethnocultural empathy as measured by the Scale of Ethnocultural Empathy (Wang et al., 2003). In study III, differences in basic empathy as well as in ethnocultural empathy were explored in a sample of 365 undergraduate students at the beginning and end of four Master programmes in health care education (Medicine, Psychology, Nursing and Social Work). The main results from the present thesis indicate that the central tendency, distribution of scores, intercorrelations, and factor structure in the Swedish version of SEE were well-matched and mainly similar to the American version. A significant strong correlation between basic and ethnocultural empathy was found, suggesting that the two constructs overlap substantially. The results of study III revealed that students from all programmes in health care had fairly high scores on both empathy scales. There were, however, significant differences between the study programmes. Overall, the studies show that ethnocultural empathy is a measurable construct but that it overlaps with basic empathy and further testing of the construct is needed. Implications of the findings for the measurement of empathy are discussed. / Avhandlingens övergripande syfte var att undersöka empati hos personer och grupper som har en annan etnisk bakgrund än den egna, en förmåga som kallas etnokulturell empati. Denna förmåga handlar om kunskap och acceptans av andra etniska individer och gruppers kulturella uttryck. Det amerikanska instrument som anses mäta etnokulturell empati översattes och validerades till svenska språk och förhållanden. Därefter testades instrumentet hos studenter på hälsovårdutbildningar i tre studier. I studie I undersöktes instrumentets validitet och reliabilitet i ett urval av 326 respondenter. I studie II undersöktes sambandet mellan grundempati, som anses mätas med instrumentet Interpersonal Reactivity Index (IRI), och etnokulturell empati som anses mätas med Scale of Ethnocultural Empathy (SEE). Studie III undersökte skillnader i grundempati och etnokulturell empati hos 365 studenter inom fyra program (Läkare, psykolog, sjuksköterska och socionom) i början och i slutet av deras studier. De huvudsakliga fynden i denna avhandling visade att faktorstrukturen och inter-korrelationerna i den svenska versionen av SEE i stor utsträckning liknade den amerikanska versionen. Dock detta inte bekräftades i konformatoriska faktoranalysen (CFA). Resultatet i studie II visade på ett starkt samband mellan grundempati och etnokulturell empati, vilket tyder på att dessa två konstruktioner av empati kraftigt överlappar varandra. I studie III visade resultatet att alla studenter från hälsovårdsutbildningarna hade höga nivåer av grund- och etnokulturell empati. Emellertid fanns signifikanta skillnader mellan programmen. Psykolog- och socionomstudenter hade högre nivåer av både grund empati och etnokulturell empati. Det övergripande resultat från avhandlingen visade att det går att mäta etnokulturell empati, men den nuvarande konstruktionen överlappar med grund empati. Ytterligare studier behövs för att förbättra instrumentet.

abstract: Increasing counselor trainees’ self-efficacy for multicultural counseling competence (MCC) is an essential part of their professional development to serve racially and ethnically diverse clients effectively. The present study examined the impact of multicultural training and the effects of a brief mindfulness intervention, compared to a control condition, on counselor trainees’ self-reported ethnocultural empathy and MCC. Data obtained from a sample of masters (n = 63) and doctoral (n = 23) counselor trainees were analyzed through a series of linear multiple hierarchical regression analyses. Consistent with previous research, results revealed that multicultural training significantly predicted scores of self-reported multicultural counseling knowledge and empathic feeling. The mindfulness intervention significantly predicted self-reported multicultural counseling knowledge. There was a significant interaction between condition (i.e., mindfulness intervention or control) and previous multicultural training when examining ethnocultural empathy’s empathic feeling and expression subscale. Specifically, trainees with lower levels of multicultural training who received the mindfulness intervention scored higher on empathic feeling compared to those in the control condition, while at higher levels of multicultural training there were no differences across condition. Implications for future research and counselor training are discussed. / Dissertation/Thesis / Mindfulness Intervention / Control Condition / Masters Thesis Counseling 2018

This study examined how multicultural readings included in the introduction to psychology curriculum were linked to an increase in students’ multicultural interest and sensitivity. Specifically, this study investigated the impact of reading and discussing multicultural articles on students’ ethnocultural empathy, universality-diverse orientation, and openness to diversity. Second purpose of the study was to examine possible individual differences associated with response to the intervention. Participants in the current study were undergraduate students enrolled in five sections of the introduction to psychology class, which were randomly assigned as control and experimental groups. The multicultural readings are four original research articles that examine topics in psychology from a cross-cultural and multi-cultural perspective. Measures of dependent variables used in the study were: Scale of Ethnocultural Empathy (Wang et al., 2003), Personality Style Inventory for Adolescents (Lounsbury et al., 2003), Experiences in Close Relationships Short Form (Wei, Russell, Mallinckrodt, & Vogel, 2007), Miville–Guzman Universality– Diversity Scale-Short form (Fuertes, Miville, Mohr, Sedlacek,& Gretchen, 2000), Openness to Diversity Scale (Pascarella, Edison, Nora, Hagedon, & Terenzini, 1996), and Balanced Inventory of Desired Responding (Paulhus, 1984). A one-way Multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) was used to test the hypothesis that the experimental group, after being exposed to the multicultural readings would show a greater increase in multicultural variables. The study’s main hypothesis was not supported, because the group X time treatment interaction was not significant. Exploratory analyses of personality traits as covariates suggested that only one variable, Attachment Avoidance, was associated with one multicultural outcome, namely, extent of change in SEE-Acceptance of Cultural Differences.