Prediction in university students of prosocial behavior and the criminalization of acts such as faults and crimes, based on empathy Predicción en estudiantes universitarios de la conducta prosocial y de la penalización de actos como faltas y delitos, a partir de la empatía

ESPARZA-REIG, JAVIER; MARTÍ-VILAR, MANUEL; RODRIGUEZ, LUCAS MARCELO

Anuario de Psicologia

University of Barcelona

Lugar: Barcelona; Año: 2021 vol. 51 p. 27 - 34

0066-5126

Empathy is the ability of a person to feel identified with something or someone and, if it is the case, share their feelings. This capacity could influence behaviors that involve a moral component, such as prosocial behavior and the criminalization of faults and crimes. The objective was to test a model of interaction of variables according to which empathy would act as an independent variable and prosocial behavior and the criminalization of faults and crimes would act as dependent variables. These variables were measured in a sample of 180 university students with an average age of 20.05 years (SD = 1.83). The results showed a good adjustment with the theoretical model proposed: X2 (1) = .82 (p = .37), as well as adequate adjustment and adjustment error indices: GFI = .998; AGFI = .973; CFI = 1; RMR = .002 and RMSEA = .000. Empathy is shown as a good predictor of prosocial behavior and the criminalization of faults and crimes. The results conclude that the proposed theoretical model is correct and empathy is predictive of the two dependent variables. This implies that enhancing the empathic capacity of people will reduce the risk of them carrying out antisocial behaviors.