NCJ Number
246734
Journal
Aggression and Violent Behavior Volume: 19 Issue: 2 Dated: March/April 2014 Pages: 179-189
Date Published
April 2014
Length
11 pages
Annotation
This article presents the results of a meta-analysis of studies that explored whether the differences in cognitive and affective empathy exist between offenders and non-offenders.
Abstract
A meta-analysis was conducted of studies that explored whether the differences in cognitive and affective empathy existed between offenders and non-offenders. The studies had to meet several criteria for inclusion in the analysis: the studies reported on the relation between cognitive and affective empathy on the one hand and delinquency on the other hand; the studies included an appropriate comparison group; the studies measured cognitive and affective empathy through questionnaire; and delinquency had to be officially established in the studies. In all, 38 studies were included in the meta-analysis. The meta-analysis found that studies using the fixed effect model showed small to medium overall effect size for cognitive and affective empathy; six unique moderators of the relation between cognitive empathy and delinquency were identified using fixed effects hierarchical multiple regression analysis; and smaller non-significant effect sizes were found for both cognitive and affective empathy in studies that included female offenders compared to studies that only included male offenders. The findings from this meta-analysis indicate a significant and robust difference in cognitive empathy between offenders compared to non-offenders, while a significant difference between offenders and non-offenders in affective empathy was only found using the fixed effect model. Study limitations are discussed. Tables and references