Measuring empathy in occupational therapy students.

Empathy is one interpersonal skill dimension that contributes to the occupational therapy process. This paper explores the concept of empathy and briefly recapitulates some of the assessment devices used in an attempt to measure the skill. It further describes an investigation involving 23 occupational therapy students in a basic master's program. The students were administered the Hogan Empathy Scale, and scores were correlated with peer and faculty empathy ratings. The results revealed a significant correlation between measured empathy and perceived ability to empathize. Possibilities are discussed for using the Hogan Empathy Scale in occupational therapy education.