The relationship between attachment styles and empathy

Abstract

© 2018, Medical Association of Thailand. All rights reserved. Objective: To investigate the relationships between attachment styles and empathy, and to examine the predictive power of attachment styles on empathy. Materials and Methods: The Attachment Style Questionnaire along with the Basic Empathy Scale (Thai version) was used to measure attachment styles and empathy, consecutively. The sample consisted of 450 undergraduate students from Chulalongkorn University. Results: Substantial correlations between attachment styles and empathy were found. Secure attachment positively related to affective and cognitive empathy, preoccupied attachment positively correlated with affective empathy, dismissing attachment negatively correlated with affective empathy, and fearful attachment negatively related to cognitive empathy. In terms of predictability, it was found that empathy could be predicted by attachment styles. Conclusion: The results revealed different relations of attachment styles and empathy. This finding could be used for empathy development program.