Business and Professional Communication Quarterly Jun 2023 Open Access

Empathy Competencies and Behaviors in Professional Communication Interactions: Self Versus Client Assessments

Melissa Fuller University of Twente ; Menno de Jong ; Elanor Kamans Hanze University of Applied Sciences ; Marca Wolfensberger Hanze University of Applied Sciences ; Mark van Vuuren University of Twente

Abstract

Empathy is an important competence for communication professionals. This article investigates two aspects of empathy in an educational setting: the validity of self versus other assessments and the manifestation of empathy in communicative behaviors. Communication students were given a mediating role in discussions with two clients and their empathy was measured using self-ratings and client assessments. Videos of highest- and lowest-rated students were analyzed to identify empathy-related behaviors. No correlation was found between self-rated empathy and clients’ assessments. Several verbal and nonverbal behaviors corresponded to empathy: body language, an other-orientation in asking questions, paraphrasing, and a solution orientation.

Journal
Business and Professional Communication Quarterly
Published
2023-06-01
DOI
10.1177/23294906221137569
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Topics
professional writing
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Citation Context

Cited by in this index (2)

  1. Sharma et al. (2025)
    A Decade of Business and Professional Communication Quarterly : A PRISMA Guided…
    Business and Professional Communication Quarterly
  2. Fuller et al. (2024)
    Training Empathy Competence in a Professional Communication Program: Course Dev…
    IEEE Transactions on Professional Communication

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