Influence of Visual Imagery Ability on Level of Empathy in Adolescents
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.58445/rars.3849Keywords:
VVIQ, IRI, empathy, Visual imagery, Adolescent empathy, Empathy developmentAbstract
Empathy is a poorly defined concept, but after decades of research it has been described as
being able to feel, share, and understand the feelings of another person while realizing the
source of the emotion isn’t from oneself. Many factors affect empathy, including visual imagery
ability which is defined as the ability to see representations of an object in your mind’s eye
without having the object in front of you. We hypothesized that visual imagery ability will have a
positive correlation with one or more aspects of empathy in adolescents. In Phase 1 of the
study, the Vividness of Visual Imagery (VVIQ) questionnaire) was administered to 110 students
(grades 10-12). Based on their scores, participants were divided into 3 groups; hyperphantasic
(VVIQ score 16-32), typical (VVIQ score 33-74), and hyperphantasic (VVIQ score 75-80). In
Phase 2 these 3 groups were assessed using the IRI (interpersonal reactivity index). A Pearson
Coefficient Correlation test was used to examine if there was a correlation between any of the
IRI subscales and VVIQ scores. We found a positive correlation between the fantasy subscale
of the IRI and VVIQ scores in adolescents.There was a slight negative correlation between
IRI-PT, IRI-EC, and IRI-PD that was not statistically significant. This data supports the
conclusion that IRI-FS may be measuring visual imagery ability rather than empathy ability.
IRI-FS may be acting as a catalyst for other emotional outcomes in adolescents.
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