Introduction
Empathy has cognitive and emotional dimensions that healthcare professionals need to develop. Empathy also influences the learning environment and student outcomes in simulation-based education. This study explored the empathy profiles of simulation instructors and analyzed how cognitive and affective dimensions correlate with demographic characteristics.
Methods
Quantitative, observational, cross-sectional study conducted with 36 novice simulation instructors. Empathy was evaluated using the Test of Cognitive and Affective Empathy, which assesses four dimensions of empathy: Perspective Adoption (PA), Emotional Understanding (EU), Empathic Distress (ED), and Empathic Joy (EJ). Statistical analysis was conducted using Kruskal-Wallis and Spearman's Rho tests in JASP (v0.19.1).
Results
Most participants were women (83.33%), aged 30–34 years (41.67%), and held a master's degree (80.56%). One-third of the participants (33%) scored =94th percentile on total empathy. PA and EJ scores were consistently high, while EU and ED showed greater variability. Gender differences were significant, with men scoring higher in total empathy, EU, and ED (p<0.05). Structured training correlated with higher ED; lack of conference attendance correlated with higher EU. There were no associations between empathy scores and years of experience or academic qualifications.
Conclusions
Simulation instructors in this study exhibited high cognitive empathy, with variable levels of affective empathy. Empathy profiling can be an integral part of tailored instructor training that strikes a balance between emotional responsiveness and psychological safety. These results highlight the importance of including strategies to improve emotional resilience and promote effective educator-student interactions in simulation faculty development programs.
