@article{Chakraborty_Mehmet_Brugha_2021, title={Alexithymia and Empathy in a Non-Clinical Population: How do they Correlate?}, volume={7}, url={https://physicianjnl.net/index.php/phy/article/view/110}, DOI={10.38192/1.7.2.1}, abstractNote={<p>Alexithymia and empathy are functional concepts surrounding human emotions.This study aimed to estimate the association between alexithymia and empathy within a neurotypical population.</p> <p>The study was a cross sectional survey conducted within a non-clinical population of medical students  at a University in England using voluntary sampling to  complete the Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS), Basic Empathy Scale (BES), General Health Questionnaire- 12. <strong> </strong></p> <p>Alexithymia and empathy scores did not show a statistically significant correlation. There was a statistically significant negative correlation between total alexithymia and cognitive empathy scores (correlation co-efficient was -0.184, p value was 0.013). Men and women differed significantly on empathy scores with women showing significantly higher empathy.</p> <p>The relationship between the understanding of one’s own emotions and the interpretation of others’ emotions are different functions with a more complex interaction than a simple linear correlation. Future research should focus on further exploring the differences between cognitive and affective empathy.</p> <p><em> </em></p>}, number={2}, journal={The Physician}, author={Chakraborty, Nandini and Mehmet, Harry and Brugha, Traolach}, year={2021}, month={Dec.}, pages={1-8} }