The Effects of College Diversity Education on Ethnocultural Empathy

<p>Gains in ethnocultural empathy are one way to establish positive changes in social attitudes. The goal of the present study was to assess changes in ethnocultural empathy among students in a wide range of diversity courses. Preliminary data was collected from two groups of undergraduate students at a large, public university located in the Southeast (n = 47). Pre and post-test measures of ethnocultural empathy (EMC/RSEE) were completed by both the control group (i.e., undergraduate psychology students) and the experimental group (i.e., students enrolled in a diversity course). Post-test, qualitative data related to student perceptions and empathy was also collected and from the diversity course participants. I hypothesized that participants in the diversity course condition would see larger gains in ethnocultural empathy as noted by the quantitative and qualitative measures. A mixed groups factorial ANOVA was conducted for subscale scores (see Table 1). No significant differences between groups were found when comparing pre and post-test scores. However, demographic variables, such as discrimination acknowledgement and multiracial interaction, were positively related to ethnocultural empathy levels. Qualitative data supported several hypotheses. Specifically, most students, (84%) in the diversity condition, were better able to understand what life is like for people who are of a different background as it applies to social identity. Furthermore, most of these students (68%) were better able to understand the traditions and values of other cultures. Most students (68%) reported they were more likely to intervene if they witness someone making discriminating statements towards an individual because of their social identity. Limitations and future directions are discussed. </p>

Name thesis:degree_name

Master of Science (MS)

Level thesis:degree_level

Master's

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Psychology

Grantor dc:publisher

Eastern Kentucky University

Year

2018

Author dc:creator

• Monroe, Addison Dean

• College
• Culture
• Diversity
• Education
• Ethnocultural Empathy
• Bilingual, Multilingual, and Multicultural Education
• Social Psychology and Interaction

Statement dc:rights

• Copyright 2018 Addison Dean Monroe

Repository record dc:identifier

https://encompass.eku.edu/etd/577

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:encompass.eku.edu:etd-1575