Psychological Features of Empathy Formation in Adolescents with Mental Development Disorders

• Main Author: Olha Vovchenko
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Kamianets-Podilskyi National Ivan Ohiienko University, National Academy of Educational Sciences of Ukraine, G.S.Kostiuk Institute of Psychology 2020-04-01
• Series: Проблеми сучасної психології
• Subjects: adolescence; disorders in mental development; emotional-volitional sphere; empathy; compassion; emotional response
• Online Access: http://journals.uran.ua/index.php/2227-6246/article/view/200833/200856

The aim of the article is to identify and experimentally test the state of the empathy formation and its impact on the formation of emotional and volitional sphere of adolescents with disorders in mental development. The purpose of the research was to provide step-by-step solution of the main tasks: firstly, to state the condition of the development of empathy by identifying its components, indicators and levels of their formation; secondly, identifying the main factors for developing empathy of adolescents with mental development disorders; establishing basic peculiarities affecting empathy as a component of the emotional-volitional sphere of adolescents’ personality with mental development disorders. Мethods. Scientific and specific research methods were used to solve the tasks and to ensure the validity of the research and conclusions. Among them there are theoretical and empirical methods, which allowed to establish quantitative and qualitative characteristics of the phenomenon, to characterize indicators and to set levels of this phenomenon. Psychodiagnostics was conducted in accordance with the requirements and instructions of the methodology having been used, conversations were also organized among the adolescents, and behavioral monitoring was conducted under the usual conditions during their educational activities. For the purpose of comparing and analyzing the phenomenon of empathy, diagnostics of adolescents with preserved intelligence of the relevant age categories was also performed under the same conditions as adolescents with disorders in mental development. The results of the research. According to the results of the diagnosis of empathy as the indicator of the development of the emotional-volitional sphere of a personality and the structure of a personality, adolescents with disorders in mental development were found to have insufficient orientation of mental processes, communicative properties, empathy, identification with others and distance from them. It was found that the level of empathy was characterized in adolescents with disorders in mental development like low and average level among adolescents with preserved intelligence. Channels of empathy and the levels of their formation among adolescents were also described in details. Conclusions. The results made it possible to ascertain among teenagers with disorders in mental development low differentiation of «Me»-image; low adaptability to external stimuli (low level of adequacy of expression of emotions according to the situation); the formation of a leading emotional modality – anger; insufficient mediation of interpersonal contacts, communicative ability; unconscious empathy, identification with other people and taking distance from them.