Looking into the Personality Traits to Enhance Empathy Ability: A Review of Literature

Abstract

Empathy is an innate capacity that can improve the potential to be creative and innovative in HCI education. The purpose of this study was to explore the relationship between empathy and personality traits through the review of empirical studies. Using the Five Factor Model, the study found that Agreeableness was strongly related to empathy. The rest four traits (Openness, Conscientiousness, Neuroticism, and Extraversion) showed moderate or inconsistent associations with empathy. This study also reviewed educational strategies to enhance students’ empathy ability for five personality traits. Academic achievement toward deep and achieving learning approaches was positively related to the most personality traits, except Neuroticism which is interrelated to the surface learning approach. The study suggested individualized learning experiences based on personality traits to enhance empathy ability in HCI education.