Empathy levels of physical education and sports students

Coaches and physical education teachers are important actors of the sports scene. Considering their responsibilities and contributions to the development of athletes or students, it has aroused curiosity to determine their empathy levels that will shape their behaviors in sports environments, starting from their own sports education. From this point of view, this study was conducted to examine the empathy levels of physical education and sports school students. The sample consisted of 268 students (86 female and 182 male) from Kilis 7 December University School of Physical Education and Sports in Turkey. The data of the study were collected through the “Empathy Quotient Scale” developed by Lawrence et al. (2004) and adapted into Turkish by Kaya and Çolakoğlu (2015). Descriptive statistical tests and non-parametric comparison tests were used in data analysis. The findings of the study revealed that the empathy levels of the students differed in terms of gender, sports participation status, department and class variables. As a result, demographic characteristics are important determinants of students' empathy level.