The relationship between empathic and innovative tendencies among engineering students

• Autores: Justin L. Hess, Nicholas D. Fila, Senay Purzer
• Localización: The International journal of engineering education, ISSN-e 0949-149X, Vol. 32, no. 3 (Parte A), 2016, págs. 1236-1249
• Idioma: inglés
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• Resumen

  • The study of empathy in engineering education has potential to improve the education of innovative engineers through theapplication of empathically guided engineering principles and processes. This paper explores the relationship betweenempathic tendencies and innovation behavioral tendencies among 160 engineering students at a large university in the mid-western United States. We first examined the correlations between four empathic tendencies as measured by theInterpersonal Reactivity Index (perspective taking, fantasy, empathic concern, personal distress) and four innovativebehavioral tendencies as measured by the Innovative Behavioral Scales (questioning, idea networking, experimenting,observation). Next, using multiple regression analyses, we explored the unique contributions of the empathic tendenciestowards each innovative behavioral tendency. Correlation analysis revealed several significant relationships betweenempathy and innovation; the greatest relationship was between perspective taking and observation. The collection ofmultiple regression models indicated that the empathic tendencies contributed to the innovative behaviors in unique ways.Perspective-taking was the strongest predictor in three of the four models, whereas personal distress was a strong negativecontributor to each of the innovative behavioral tendencies. We explore these results and their implications for engineeringeducators.