Deconstructing empathy: A qualitative examination of mentor perspective-taking and adaptability in youth mentoring relationships

Renée Spencer, Julia Pryce, Johanna Barry, Jill Walsh and Antoinette Basualdo-Delmonico

Children and Youth Services Review, 2020, vol. 114, issue C

Abstract: Empathy has been identified as a central component of effective youth mentoring relationships yet little is known about what empathy within mentoring relationships looks like and the specific aspects of empathy that may be at work in this context. Longitudinal qualitative interview data with 50 mentor participants in a larger study of mentoring relationship development were used to examine mentors’ expressions of different dimensions of empathy within their narratives about the nature and quality of their mentoring relationships. Two main dimensions of empathy were identified: (a) perspective-taking, which was marked by mentors’ descriptions of their efforts to relate to the youth’s experiences and to understanding things from the youth’s point of view and (b) adaptability, which was conveyed through the mentors’ descriptions of their openness to the wants, needs, and experiences of the youth and to their flexibility in the relationship and responsiveness to the youth. Mentors who described being able to engage empathically with their mentees also conveyed greater satisfaction with the experience of mentoring.

Keywords: Empathy; Youth mentoring; Qualitative research (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:cysrev:v:114:y:2020:i:c:s0190740920300104

DOI: 10.1016/j.childyouth.2020.105043

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