Abstract
The purpose of this study is to investigate the sex and grade differences in the development of tolorence and empathy. Subjects were 352 college students. The research instruments were a tolerance scale which measured the tolerance of people dealing with the four aspects of inter-individual differencesĦBthe Interpersonal Reactivity Index (IRI) and the Questionnaire Measure of Emotional Empathy (QMEE) which measured the empathy. The results show: In the sex and grade differences of tolerance, in how the higher grade college students deal with the four aspects of inter-individual differences (demographic background, personal traits, interests & hobbies, ideasĦBattitudes & values), the higher percentage belongs to the egorelative state which means a better development of tolerance. In the findings of empathy, the personal distress of the IRI of female college students is higher than that male of students. There is an interaction between sex and grade differences; the personal distress of the first, secondĦBand third grade of male college students is higher than the fourth grade ones, yet there are no grade differences between female college students on this factor. On the perspective-taking factor of the IRI, there is no sex difference on this factor, yet the perspective-taking of the secondĦBthird and fourth grade college students is higher than the first grade ones. There are no significant effects on the fantasy and the empathic concern factors of the IRI. As to the findings of the QMEE’S, there is no sex difference, yet the emotional empathy of the second and the third grade college students is higher than the first grade ones.
The possible reasons for the above findings are discussed in the paper. According to these findings, there are counseling implications for peer interpersonal relations and suggestions for future research.
| Keywords: | college students; interpersonal relations; tolerance; empathy |
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