Abstract:
The study sought to ascertain the effects of two training techniques of empathic responding on conflict reduction among secondary school adolescents. The two training techniques are Lessons on Empathic Responding and Perception (LERP) and Role Playing. Gender was examined as a moderating variable on the effects of the treatment. The study was delimited to senior secondary school II students in Ika South Local Government Area of Delta State. Six research questions were raised and answered and six hypotheses were formulated and tested at 0.05 level of significance. The sample for the study consisted of eighty students (40 males and 40 females) who were screened using the conflict prone instrument (CPI) and assigned to experimental and control groups. Each of the two experimental groups was exposed to an eight week programme of the two training techniques while the control groups received life skills lessons that were not related to empathy. Davis’ Interpersonal Reactivity Index (IRI) and the conflict prone instrument (CPI) were used to measure empathy and adolescents proneness to conflict. Analysis of Covariance (ANCOVA) was used to analyze the data collected. The major findings include: Role playing was found to be effective in increasing adolescents’ empathy level; LERP was significantly effective in improving students’ empathy; Post test empathy mean scores as measured by IRI of adolescents exposed to the two treatments significantly increased; there was a mean loss in the post test conflict mean scores of adolescents exposed to the two treatments. There was also no significant interaction effect between gender and treatments. Based on the results and educational implications of these findings, it was recommended among others that LERP and Role Playing should be used as secondary school-based programmes for the development of empathy and its related skills in adolescent in order to foster the reduction of adolescents’ conflict in secondary schools.
