Sowing the Seeds of Empathy, Altruism and Life Satisfaction in Emerging Adults of India: An Intervention-based Study

Description

Page: 1005-1010

Ruchi Dubey Chaturvedi (Department of Psychology, Jai Hind College (Empowered Autonomous), Mumbai, Maharashtra)

The study was undertaken to gain insight into three pertinent aspects in the lives of emerging Indian adults- Empathy, Altruism, and Life Satisfaction. Purposive sampling was done to select 68 undergraduate students from a Mumbai-based college. The average age of the students was 19.5 years. In the pre-intervention phase, three scales were administered to them – The Perth Empathy Scale (Brett, Becerra, Maybery, & Preece, 2022), 9-Self Report Altruism Scale (Manzur & Olavarrieta, 2021), and Satisfaction with Life Scale-SWLS (Diener, Emmons, Larsen, & Griffin, 1985). In the next phase, these student volunteers designed interactive and innovative activities for underprivileged children, aged between 5 years to 12 years. Activities included academics, creative art, innovative games, dance, and music. The student volunteers then visited a slum area in Mumbai and conducted these activities on the children residing there. Post-intervention, the same three psychological scales were re-administered to the student volunteers. The pre-intervention and post-intervention scores were compared using Descriptive Analysis and Inferential statistics. Findings showed significant post-intervention enhancement in Altruism and three subscales of Empathy, namely, Negative Cognitive Empathy, Positive Cognitive Empathy, and Negative Affective Empathy. No significant differences emerged in Life Satisfaction and the fourth sub-scale of Empathy-Positive Affective Empathy. The study reflects the importance and impact of pro-social activities for enhancing overall sensitization and inclusiveness.