The Relation between Metacognition and Empathy in Nurses

Abstract

Nurses' empathy is an important dimension of the therapeutic alliance between patients and nurses. The objective of this study was to verify the model that metacognition directly relates to perspective taking, and that rationality and intrapersonal emotional intelligence can mediate between metacognition and perspective taking, and that perspective taking relates to other-oriented emotional reactivity in nurses. Questionnaires obtained from 838 nurses working in five hospitals were analyzed using structural equation modeling. The results showed that metacognition related to rationality and intrapersonal emotional intelligence, and rationality and intrapersonal emotional intelligence related to perspective taking. In addition, monitoring and control within the subfactors of metacognition related to perspective taking. Furthermore, perspective taking and metacognitive knowledge related to other-oriented emotional reactivity. The results of this study suggest these relations may be one source of proof of causation.