| This study evaluated religiosity, spirituality, and empathy to provide further clarification on their relations. As shown in the research, religiosity, spirituality, and empathy are generally related to favorable effects in adolescents when examined alone. Therefore, it is important to recognize how these constructs interact together. Four hundred twenty-eight adolescents completed self-report questionnaires that assessed levels of religiosity, spirituality, and empathy. Participants' religiosity and spirituality were assessed using a scale devised by the researchers and the Interpersonal Reactivity Index (IRI, Davis, 1980, 1995) was used to measure empathy. Adolescents who reported greater levels of involvement in religious services had greater levels of perceived spirituality. Additionally, females possessed higher levels of religiosity, spirituality, and empathy when compared to males. Finally, spirituality was related to empathic concern in females, and in males, spirituality was related to perspective taking, while religiosity was negatively related to personal distress. |
