Empathy and Mobile Applications

Mobile devices, such as mobile phones and personal digital assistants, have gained wide-spread popularity and are part of the everyday life of billions of people. Today’s mobile phones represent a rich and powerful computing platform, given their sensing, processing, social and communication capabilities. Empathy is the ability to identify with and understand another person’s situation and feelings. Our ability to empathize affects how well we communicate our thoughts and feelings with others, how well we understand others, and how comfortable people feel communicating with us. Mobile devices have made a huge step in trying to cultivate empathy to people and different social groups through interesting applications

The Need for Emotional Intelligence Training Education in Critical and Stressful Situations: The Case of Covid-19

Critical and stressful situations can emerge in many different forms in our daily life. Sometimes the stressful situations can be more serious in national or global level, such as natural disasters and diseases. In such a difficult and demanding situation, we were with the onset of the virus. At a time when the international medical scientific community is trying to deal with the new threat called Coronavirus, emotional intelligence is contributing decidedly to address this pandemic. Awareness, management, empathy, basic components of emotional intelligence, are especially important for people to control difficult situations as the one we are going through. The need for the development and cultivation of emotional intelligence from the very beginning, starting from the field of education, is strongly apparent so that the child and later the adult can cope with stressful situations. Studies have shown that people with high emotional intelligence can better manage and mitigate stress and adopt strategies of resilience and control.</p

Detecting and cultivating emotional intelligence through new technologies

Emotional intelligence is the ability to perceive, interpret, express, control, evaluate and use emotions to effectively and constructively communicate and relate to others. Emotional intelligence is the rudder for feeling, thinking, learning, problem solving and decision making. The purpose of this thesis was a global and holistic approach to the concept of Emotional Intelligence and specifically to its detection, measurement and cultivation. To achieve this goal, three objectives were set that were in a harmonious and direct connection with each other for the integrated approach to the subject. The initial goal was to construct a new theoretical model of nine levels of emotional intelligence in a pyramidal form with corresponding skills and strategies aimed at the process of acquiring emotional intelligence through its gradual development and progression through the nine levels. Subsequently, the second objective and in absolute relation with the theoretical pyramid model of emotional intelligence, was the design of a scale to measure emotional intelligence for children aged 9-12 years and its psychometric properties were determined. The final scale included 45 items under nine defined factors with reasonable reliability. Evidence of quantitative validity and reliability was obtained from a sample of 506 boys and girls from the 4th, 5th, and 6th grades. The results suggest that the scale is a short, easy to use, valid, reliable and easy to understand tool. It was also concluded that the new scale is a promising measure and an optimal tool for measuring emotional intelligence for the promotion of mental health and well-being. Finally, third goal for the completion of the thesis was the creation of a serious game entitled "The Park of Emotions". This game was based on the nine level pyramid of emotional intelligence, had conceptual relevance to the questions of the EI measurement scale, and served as an intervention tool. The potential of digital games to enhance learning in various areas of child development has attracted increasing interest in children's emotional well being and social emotional difficulties. The third and final aim of this thesis was to experimentally evaluate to what extent the serious game "The Park of Emotions" improved children's emotional intelligence through the improvised scale measuring Emotional Intelligence. The study was conducted on a group of 436 children aged 9-10 years, 4th grade. To assess the impact of the program, an analysis of variance (ANOVA) was conducted on the experimental group and the control group at the pre-test stage, as well as an analysis of covariance (ANCOVA post-test stage). The results for the post-intervention ANCOVA confirmed the existence of significant differences between the groups, as participants in the experimental group had significantly higher scores compared to participants in the control group on the total score and individual subscales. Furthermore, ANCOVA results confirmed that the intervention had a similar positive effect for both sexes. Consequently, this study experimentally validates an effective intervention tool, highlighting the importance of implementing digital games aimed at improving emotional intelligence and emotional skills throughout childhood and preadolescence. "The Park of Emotions" could be considered a useful serious game that affects personal, emotional and social factors.Η συναισθηματική νοημοσύνη είναι η ικανότητα αντίληψης, ερμηνείας, έκφρασης ελέγχου, αξιολόγησης και χρήσης των συναισθημάτων για την αποτελεσματική και εποικοδομητική επικοινωνία και σχέση με τους άλλους. Η συναισθηματική νοημοσύνη αποτελεί το πηδάλιο για το συναίσθημα, τη σκέψη, τη μάθηση, την επίλυση προβλημάτων και τη λήψη αποφάσεων. Η παρούσα διατριβή είχε ως σκοπό μια σφαιρική και ολική προσέγγιση στην έννοια της Συναισθηματικής Νοημοσύνης και συγκεκριμένα στην ανίχνευση, τη μέτρηση και την καλλιέργειά της. Για την επίτευξη αυτού του σκοπού τέθηκαν τρεις στόχοι που βρίσκονταν σε αρμονική και άμεση σύνδεση μεταξύ τους για την ολοκληρωμένη προσέγγιση του θέματος. Αρχικός στόχος ήταν η κατασκευή ενός νέου θεωρητικού μοντέλου εννέα επιπέδων της συναισθηματικής νοημοσύνης σε πυραμιδική μορφή με αντίστοιχες δεξιότητες και στρατηγικές που αποβλέπουν στη διαδικασία απόκτησης της συναισθηματικής νοημοσύνης μέσα από τη σταδιακή ανάπτυξή της και την ανέλιξη στα εννέα επίπεδα. Εν συνεχεία, δεύτερος στόχος και σε απόλυτη συνάρτηση με το θεωρητικό μοντέλο πυραμίδας της συναισθηματικής νοημοσύνης, αποτέλεσε η σχεδίαση μιας κλίμακας μέτρησης της συναισθηματικής νοημοσύνης για παιδιά ηλικίας 9-12 ετών και καθορίστηκαν οι ψυχομετρικές της ιδιότητες. Η τελική κλίμακα περιλάμβανε 45 στοιχεία κάτω από εννέα καθορισμένους παράγοντες με εύλογη αξιοπιστία. Αποδείξεις ποσοτικής εγκυρότητας και αξιοπιστίας λήφθηκαν από ένα δείγμα 506 αγοριών και κοριτσιών από την Δ', Ε' και ΣΤ' δημοτικού. Τα αποτελέσματα υποδηλώνουν ότι η κλίμακα είναι ένα σύντομο, εύχρηστο, έγκυρο, αξιόπιστο και εύκολα κατανοητό εργαλείο. Συνήχθη, επίσης, το συμπέρασμα ότι η νέα κλίμακα είναι ένα υποσχόμενο μέτρο και ένα βέλτιστο εργαλείο για τη μέτρηση της συναισθηματικής νοημοσύνης για την προαγωγή της ψυχικής υγείας και ευεξίας. Τέλος, τρίτος στόχος για την ολοκλήρωση της διατριβής ήταν η δημιουργία ενός παιχνιδιού σοβαρού σκοπού με τίτλο «Το Πάρκο των Συναισθημάτων». Το παιχνίδι αυτό βασίστηκε στην πυραμίδα των εννέα επιπέδων της συναισθηματικής νοημοσύνης, είχε εννοιολογική συνάφεια με τις ερωτήσεις της κλίμακας μέτρησης της ΣΝ και λειτούργησε ως εργαλείο παρέμβασης. Η δυνατότητα των ψηφιακών παιχνιδιών να ενισχύσουν τη μάθηση σε διάφορους τομείς της παιδικής ανάπτυξης έχει προσελκύσει αυξανόμενο ενδιαφέρον για τη συναισθηματική ευημερία των παιδιών και τις κοινωνικο-συναισθηματικές δυσκολίες. Τρίτος και τελικός στόχος αυτής της διατριβής ήταν να αξιολογήσει πειραματικά σε ποιο βαθμό το παιχνίδι σοβαρού σκοπού «Το Πάρκο των Συναισθημάτων» βελτίωσε τη συναισθηματική νοημοσύνη των παιδιών μέσα από την αυτοσχέδια κλίμακα μέτρησης της Συναισθηματικής Νοημοσύνης. Η μελέτη διεξήχθη σε μια ομάδα 436 παιδιών ηλικίας 9-10 ετών, Δ' Δημοτικού. Για να εκτιμηθεί ο αντίκτυπος του προγράμματος, διεξήχθη ανάλυση διακύμανσης (ANOVA) στην πειραματική ομάδα και την ομάδα ελέγχου στο προ-δοκιμαστικό στάδιο, καθώς και ανάλυση συνδιακύμανσης (ANCOVA post-test). Τα αποτελέσματα για την ANCOVA μετά την παρέμβαση επιβεβαίωσαν την ύπαρξη σημαντικών διαφορών μεταξύ των ομάδων, καθώς οι συμμετέχοντες στην πειραματική ομάδα είχαν σημαντικά υψηλότερες βαθμολογίες σε σύγκριση με τους συμμετέχοντες στην ομάδα ελέγχου σε ότι αφορά τη συνολική βαθμολογία και τις επιμέρους υποκλίμακες. Επιπλέον, τα αποτελέσματα της ANCOVA επιβεβαίωσαν ότι η παρέμβαση είχε παρόμοια θετική επίδραση και για τα δύο φύλα. Κατά συνέπεια, αυτή η μελέτη επικυρώνει πειραματικά ένα αποτελεσματικό εργαλείο παρέμβασης, τονίζοντας τη σημασία της εφαρμογής ψηφιακών παιχνιδιών που στοχεύουν στη βελτίωση της συναισθηματικής νοημοσύνης και των συναισθηματικών δεξιοτήτων σε όλη την παιδική ηλικία και την προεφηβεία. «Το Πάρκο των Συναισθημάτων» θα μπορούσε να θεωρηθεί ένα χρήσιμο παιχνίδι σοβαρού σκοπού που επηρεάζει τους προσωπικούς, συναισθηματικούς και κοινωνικούς παράγοντες

Emotional Intelligence as an Important Asset for HR in Organizations: Leaders and Employees

Emotional intelligence (EI) is related to emotions and emotional information. It has attracted great attention among researchers and Human Resource (HR) practitioners because of its contribution towards leaders and employees and its key role for the organizational effectiveness and excellence. Here, I describe the models of EI and review the findings about the association between EI, leaders and employees to point out the positive correlations. I conclude by signalizing thoughts for future research on the role of EI in organizations

Empathy, Special Education and ICTs

During the past decades there have been considerable innovations with the use of Information Communication Technologies (ICTs) in many fields and sectors. In many settings ICTs have become an important element of the learning and teaching process. All social groups have been helped including children and adults with special educational needs. In this paper we provide a brief overview of the most representative articles for applications used for assessment, intervention and development of empathy which is an important skill that researches indicate that people with special educational needs lack of it. Empathy is a complex form of psychological inference in which observation, memory, knowledge, and reasoning are combined to yield insights into the thoughts and feelings of others

Empathy, Special Education and ICTs

During the past decades there have been considerable innovations with the use of Information Communication Technologies (ICTs) in many fields and sectors. In many settings ICTs have become an important element of the learning and teaching process. All social groups have been helped including children and adults with special educational needs. In this paper we provide a brief overview of the most representative articles for applications used for assessment, intervention and development of empathy which is an important skill that researches indicate that people with special educational needs lack of it. Empathy is a complex form of psychological inference in which observation, memory, knowledge, and reasoning are combined to yield insights into the thoughts and feelings of others

Games for Empathy for Sensitive Social Groups

Information and Communication Technology is part of almost everyone’s everyday life in a variety of ways and in many fields. All people should have access to ICTs including those with various disabilities and those with health problems. The studies presented in this article represent a body of work outlining positive effects of playing games in the area of special education and health care in order to cultivate empathy

ICTs for Assessment and Intervention on Cultivation of Empathy

Empathy can be defined as the ability to perceive and understand others’ emotional states. Neuropsychological evidence has shown that humans empathize with each other to different degrees depending on factors such as their mood, personality, and social relationships. ICTs with the features that offered are a very important tool for the detection, the development and the cultivation of empathy in children and adults in various fields and in different ways

A New Pyramid Model of Empathy: The Role of ICTs and Robotics on Empathy

Empathy and compassion have become a major focus for international research and appear to be important concepts in human development. There are several definitions and models of empathy and compassion available in the literature. Based on theoretical foundations, a new model of empathy – compassion - love is proposed in the present article. This new model emphasizes the evolution of the concept of empathy, which, at higher levels, takes the form of compassion, which will then be transformed into even higher universal love making empathy and compassion a creative and significant process for the gradual evolution of individuals. In addition, emphasis is placed on ICT tools that contribute to the development of empathy and compassion

Games for Empathy for Sensitive Social Groups

Information and Communication Technology is part of almost everyone’s everyday life in a variety of ways and in many fields. All people should have access to ICTs including those with various disabilities and those with health problems. The studies presented in this article represent a body of work outlining positive effects of playing games in the area of special education and health care in order to cultivate empathy.</p