Predicting Paternalism Based on Components of Empathy and Behavioral Contagion

Paternalism is a ubiquitous phenomenon in interpersonal relations and social life; However, few studies

Paternalism is a ubiquitous phenomenon in interpersonal relations and social life; However, few studies have investigated its relationship with other psychological constructs and in particular, it is unclear how it relates to different components of empathy in the context of interpersonal relationships. The present study aims to develop and validate a measure that evaluates paternalism in everyday life and then to examine its relationship with components of empathy and behavioral contagion.

The present study follows a correlational design and participants were selected based on convenience sampling. First, exploratory factor analysis was used to evaluate the structural validity and factor loadings of the paternalism questionnaire, and internal reliability was examined using Cronbach’s alpha. Then, in a second study, Interpersonal Reactivity Index (Golbabaei et al., 2022), and Empathy Index (Jordan et al., 2016) were used to predict paternalism, using a multivariate regression.

Paternalism was positively correlated with empathic concern (r = .184, p < .05) and was negatively correlated with personal distress (r = -.202, p < .01). Moreover, in a linear regression model empathic concern (β = .306, p < .01) and personal distress (β = -.318, p < .01) predicted paternalism (F (2, 139) =9.538, p < .01 ).

Our findings emphasize the importance of considering the contrary consequences that different components of empathy may have in some situations. By using experimental methods and including other constructs, future studies can shed light on different antecedents of paternalism in everyday life.