Alexitimia e empatia : um estudo piloto em estudantes universitários

Abstract

The present dissertation had as main objective to explore the relationship between alexithymia and empathy in a sample of university students. Thus, we sought to understand whether empathy is related to alexithymia, developing a pilot study in a sample of university students attending bachelor´s and master´s degrees, in different courses and universities in Portugal. Method: The study included 175 participants, aged between 18 and 48 years (M = 22.5; SD = 4.8). The following instruments were used: Sociodemographic Questionnaire, the 20-item Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS-20, Bagby, Parker and Taylor, 1994) and the Interpersonal Reactivity Index (IRI; David, 1983). Results: The main results obtained revealed that there is an influence of empathy on alexithymia, more specifically that higher levels of empathy lead to lower levels of alexithymia. It was also found that both the study cycle and gender do not influence the levels of alexithymia in this sample. Regarding the student´s scientific areas, it was possible to verify that they influence the expression of alexithymia and empathy, more specifically the subscale taken from perspective, evaluates through the IRI. Conclusions: This pilot study suggests, as expected, that empathy influences the expression of alexithymia. On the other hand, it was found that the levels of alexithymia do not decrease with the evolution of schooling. A possible explanation for the decrease in the expression of alexithymia, throughout schooling, may be related to soft skills. In this logic, it will be relevant to introduce curricular units that promote their development, from the beginning of academic training. Keywords: alexithymia, empathy, IRI, soft skills, TAS-20

Date of Award	2023
Original language	Portuguese
Supervisor	Maria Teresa Soares Souto (Supervisor)