Evaluating empathy in interviewing: Comparing self‐report with actual behavior

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to compare responses on the Medical Helping Relationship Inventory (MHRI), an instrument recently developed for evaluation of medical communications skills, with ratings of medical students’ videotaped interview behavior. Fifty videotapes of student interviews were evaluated by two trained raters, using the Carkhuff Empathic Understanding Scale, an adapted version of the Arizona Clinical Interview Rating scale, and additional items developed to measure specific interviewing behavior. Measures of empathy based on rated behavior were highly intercorrelated; however, expected positive relations between rated empathy and the MHRI Understanding subscale were not found. It would appear that preferences for Understanding responses on the MHRI multiple‐choice survey did not reflect the ratings of the students’ actual interview behavior.