Psychology Students in Polyethnic Surrounding: Deformation or Development of Empathy

These abstracts contain someresults of the research supported by INTAS Foundation (Grant No YSF01/1-199). Previous studies (project ”TOPEU”, sponsored by VW-Foundation) showed the evidence that empathy characteristics of a personality are being changed indifferent directions in the polyethnic surroundings. In the problematic polyethnicinteraction the deformation of empathy could be revealed through the changes (increasing/decreasing) in accuracy in relation to situation of interaction (situational factor)and partner’s gender (gender factor).

Main hypothesis of the research states that the level of empathy accuracy in the situations of problematic polyethnic interaction differs in relation to situational and gender factors in comparison with the level of empathy accuracy in the situations of problematic monoethnic interaction and in comparison with the situations of nonproblematic polyethnic interaction.

The preliminary results showed that in both male and female subjects deformation of empathy is higher in the situations of problematic polyethnic interaction in comparison with situations of nonproblematic polyethnic interaction. Profile of empathy deformation depends on subject’s gender. The decreasing of empathy accuracy in female subjects mostly prevails in relation to situation contents -rejection, insults, accusations, restriction. Empathy accuracy in male subjects mostly changes in relation to gender factor - increases or does not change while interacting with a male partner and decreases while interacting with a female partner.

This could be one of the mechanisms of emotional insincerity and inversion developing in the polyethnic interaction interpretation of which should be included into the programmes of psychological training and psychological education especially for those professionals who deal with the migrants.