The role of empathy in problem construction and creative problem solving

Abstract

This study investigates the relationship between empathy, problem construction, and creative problem solving. It is suggested that empathy may enhance creativity by encouraging individuals to consider others' perspectives when defining ambiguous and ill-defined problems. The study presents a real-world problem scenario to 220 participants across two surveys via an online platform. Participants were asked to generate problem restatements and one solution, which were evaluated on originality and quality by trained raters. Participant empathy was measured in a follow-up survey one week later. The results showed that empathy had a significant positive relationship with problem construction quality and originality. Moreover, problem construction quality and originality were found to mediate the relationship between empathy and solution quality and originality, respectively. The study contributes to the creativity literature by illuminating the role of empathy in the problem construction process and providing further evidence of the importance of personality to creative problem solving.

Educational relevance and implications statement

This study examined the influence of empathy on problem construction and creative problem solving via the presentation of a real-world problem scenario. The results revealed that empathy had a significant positive relationship with problem construction quality and originality. Problem construction quality and originality were each shown to mediate the relationship between empathy and solution quality and originality, respectively. The results of this study contribute to creativity literature by providing a deeper understanding of the individual difference characteristics that affect the problem construction process and creative problem solving as a whole. An important implication from this study is that educators, parents, and organizational leaders should be aware of the importance of empathy in defining and constructing the problem and encourage approaching problems from multiple perspectives.