Effects of priming personal values on empathic behaviour of NHS staff

Abstract

Introduction: Individual values have been widely researched within psychology, but their application to empathy has been largely neglected. The Schwartz model of values (Schwartz, 2012) has been demonstrated as a robust construct for the measuring of value priorities and the priming of values (Maio, 2001). Aims: The current research aimed to investigate the relationships between values and empathy; burnout was also assessed as a covariate within this relationship. This study also investigated whether individuals primed with empathy related values (self-transcendence) showed more empathy than participants who were primed for values opposed to empathy (self enhancement). Methods: A between-subjects experimental design was employed, with 87 participants (self-transcendence values prime group, n=29; self enhancement values prime group, n=29; and control group, n=29). Descriptive statistics and inferential analyses were used to test the hypotheses. All participants completed a measure of values (PVQ-RR), a measure of burnout (MBI) and a test of empathy (MET-core-2). Results: Significant associations were found between all the variables. Self-transcendence values were positively correlated with emotional empathy and negatively correlated with burnout. Burnout was negatively correlated to emotional empathy and was shown to have a mediating effect on the relationship between values and empathy. Priming values was shown to have one significant effect; participants who reported lower levels of burnout and were primed for self-transcendence values displayed more emotional empathy compared with participants with high levels of burnout who were primed for self enhancement values. Conclusions: This study provides empirical support for considering how empathy is related to and can be affected by the priming of values. It also highlights the influence of burnout within this relationship. The results are discussed with reference to the existing literature and clinical implications are outlined. The strengths and limitations of the research and ideas for future research are presented