How does including empathizing elements in education influence students’ interest depending on their drive toward empathizing thinking?

Welberg, Julia; Streitberger, Jan-Samuel; Heinicke, Susanne; Laumann, Daniel

Abstract

Personal characteristics, such as gender and drives toward empathizing or systemizing thinking, play crucial roles in teaching–learning processes. Studies indicate that empathizing thinking predicts a preference for humanities, while systemizing thinking predicts a preference for STEM subjects. However, research analyzing the impact of empathizing/systemizing thinking on subject interest across different subjects is limited. The first study investigates how empathizing/systemizing thinking influences subject interest among high school students (N = 765). Results show that empathizing thinking predicts interest in humanities, while systemizing thinking predicts interest in STEM subjects. Nonetheless, it remains unclear how students perceive subjects in terms of empathizing/systemizing characteristics. Thus, a second study (N = 460) examines the impact of empathizing educational elements on interest in physics (STEM) and politics (humanities). ANOVA results show that students exposed to empathizing elements showed significantly higher interest, especially those tending toward empathizing thinking. This pattern is consistent in physics and politics.