Narcissism and empathy in healthcare professionals

Abstract

The first section of this thesis is a systematic literature review of interventions to increase empathy in Healthcare Professionals. A total of 17 studies were included. Definitions of empathy, measurement used, sample characteristics, and intervention characteristics were mixed, indicating a range of approaches aiming to increase empathy were considered in the review. Of those interventions examined in the review, none of them accounted for individual differences, instead adopting a ‘one glove fits all’ approach. This may explain why only seven of the reported studies reported significant improvements in empathy. Limitations of the review and areas for future research are identified and discussed.

The second section consists of an empirical research paper investigating the relationship between narcissism and empathy in Healthcare Professionals. Scant research has explored narcissism levels in Healthcare populations. Narcissists lack empathy but can be empathic. Empathy is important for fostering relationships between healthcare professionals and patients. Thus, we designed a study to test whether it is possible to make empathy appealing to a narcissist – by appealing to their agentic motivations. In total, 192 Healthcare Professionals participated in the study. Amongst this population, narcissism predicted lower levels of empathy towards the hypothetical patient. However, we were not successful at making empathy appealing to healthcare professionals scoring higher in narcissism. Implications for theory, clinical practice, and future research is discussed.

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Identifiers

ORCID for Claire Hart: orcid.org/0000-0003-2175-2474

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