Towards Elucidating the Operationalization and Measurement of Empathy in Clinical Outcome Research

Abstract

Abstract Although the study of empathy within the helping professions has a long history, it is a complex, multifaceted phenomenon, whose precise definition remains elusive. Despite the ambiguous nature of empathy, it has been theorized to be an important relationship variable that positively affects client outcomes in medicine and psychotherapy. However, since numerous problems exist in the measurement of empathy, the importance of this prominent relationship variable in medical and psychotherapeutic outcomes cannot be corroborated. The current study was designed to address the problems plaguing empathy research and has several aims. First, the study provides a proposal for the operationalization of empathy as comprising both a cognitive and behavioral component along with evidence supporting this conceptualization. Additionally, solutions are provided for improving the measurement of clinical empathy using the revised Response Empathy Scale (Elliott, 1982). Finally, a study is proposed whereby the revised Response Empathy Scale is tested in clinical practice and client outcomes associated with therapist empathy are examined.