Problems of Forensic Sciences 2007 Vol. 72 (LXXII) 379-403
DEPENDENCIES BETWEEN PSYCHOLOGICAL GENDER, EMPATHY, AND INTERPERSONAL RELATIONS IN JUVENILE GIRLS AND BOYS
Józef K. GIEROWSKI1,2, Anna PORAŃSKA2
1Institute of Forensic Research, Krakow, Poland
2Chair of Psychiatry, Collegium Medicum of Jagiellonian University, Krakow, Poland
Streszczenie
The aim of the presented research was to show dependencies between empathy and interpersonal relations in juveniles of both genders and their psychological gender. Examinations embraced 193 juveniles from reformatories in Pszczyna, Racibórz, and Zawiercie. In the research, the Psychological Gender Inventory (IPP) by A. Kuczyńska, the Emotional Empathy Scale by A. Mehrabian and N. Epstein, and the Scale of Interpersonal Relations (SUI) by J. M. Stanik were used. Examinations revealed that both groups are characterised by a considerable number of individuals with a significant intensity of masculinity understood as a dimension of psychological gender, and that the level of masculinity does not differentiate girls and boys. No relation between empathy and particular types of psychological gender was revealed in either of the groups. The variable “empathy” was related with interpersonal relations. Both girls and boys exhibited improper styles of interpersonal relations accompanied by helplessness and rejection of socially accepted forms of interactions. The variable differentiating preferences in social relations appeared to be psychological gender. Summarising, whilst biological gender seems to play an important role in shaping the empathy level, psychological gender may be assumed as a mechanism which regulates patterns of social functioning.
Słowa kluczowe
Juveniles; Psychological gender; Empathy; Interpersonal relations.