Эмпатия и взаимопомощь до и во время COVID-19 (данные по московским студентам)

Вопросы психологии. 2022. Т. 68. № 1. С. 28–40.

Burkova V., Butovskaya M., Симаков Н. Ю.

The article presents the results of researches conducted on samples of students in Moscow before and during the COVID-19 pandemic. The first sample is represented by data before COVID-19 and during of the first year of the pandemic (148 people; 2019-2020). The second sample is pandemic data obtained during the three waves of the COVID-19 pandemic (1581 people; 2020-2021). The purpose of this study is to assess changes in the level of empathy before and during the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as to trace the dynamics of empathic behavior during the three waves of COVID-19 among students in Moscow. An analysis of the data obtained significant changes in students' empathy before and during the pandemic according to the Boyko empathic abilities questionnaire: the level of empathy decreased during the pandemic year, the most significant changes obtained on the scales of the intuitive channel of empathy and identification in empathy. Comparison of data on three waves of the Interpersonal Reactivity Index questionnaire revealed dynamics of empathy depending on the sex of the respondents: scores on all scales of empathy were higher for women than for men; men showed an increase in empathy scores from the first to the third wave, while women's scores peaked maximum in the second wave, and then decreased. These differences appear to indicate that women are more likely to “burn out” in a stressful situation than men and are also more responsive to reduced restrictions in the context of COVID-19, which influences in empathic behavior. These results obtained the need to take into account various factors that influence people's behavior during the COVID-19 pandemic (sex, age, volunteer and epidemiological experiences, individual characteristics, personal ability to adapt to long-term stress).

Keywords: эмпатия, empathy, COVID-19, COVID-19