Exploring the Relationship between Spiritual Personality and Emotional Empathy among Medical and Unani Students

This study was conducted to discover the relationship between spiritual personality and emotional empathy among medical and unani students. The target population consisted of students from faculty of medicine of JNMC (Jawaharlal Nehru Medical College, Aligarh, UP) and faculty of unani of AKTC (Ajmal Khan Tibbiya College, Aligarh, UP). The sample comprised of 100 participants (50 female and 50 male) whose age range was from 24 to 27 years. Out of 100 participants, 50 students were from MBBS course and the remaining 50 students were from BUMS course. The participants were selected by simple random sampling method. Data were obtained through Spiritual Personality Inventory (SPI) developed by Husain, Luqman and Jahan (2012) and Emotional Empathy Scale (EES) developed by Mehrabian and Epstein (l972). The data were analyzed by means of Pearson Product-Moment Correlation. SPSS 16.0 version was used to analyze the data. The obtained results indicated that in the MBBS male and female students, and BUMS male students only, spiritual personality is related to emotional empathy. The findings suggested that students of helping profession with spiritual personality express more empathic attitude toward others which is essential for speedy recovery of the patients.

It is important for the medical colleges and Unani colleges to know which aspect plays important role in having big impact in developing the personality of health caregivers. The notion that noble attitude toward others and moral rectitude factors of spiritual personality and emotional empathy are important for the realization of professional goals particularly in the colleges of medical profession has remained untapped by researchers. Consequently, empirical research evidence is still needed to support the proposed link between spiritual personality and emotional empathy among prospective health caregivers.

Personality: Meaning and Definitions:
The word "Personality" has been derived from the Latin word "Persona", which referred to the mask that Greek actors wore while acting. This, however, is not the meaning taken in the modern word "personality". Personality is not a fixed state but a dynamic totality which is continuously changing due to interaction with the environment. It is known by the conduct, behaviour, activities, movements and everything else concerning the individual. It is the way of responding to the environment, the way in which an individual adjusts with the external environment (Sharma, 2006). "Personality is the superstructure of the relatively consistent and enduring innate-learned, apparent-hidden characteristics of an individual like physical appearance, attitudes and behaviour that combine together and influence one's ways of interaction with the environment" (Ahmad, 2014).
According to Allport, personality is "a dynamic organization within the individual of those psychophysical systems that determine his unique adjustment to his environment" (Allport, 1937).

Spirituality: Meaning and Definitions:
What is most obvious in the meaning of "spirituality" is that it comes from its root word, which is "spirit". The suffix "uality" qualifies the use of "spirit" in this instance ("Basic Meaning of Spirituality", 2010). Spiritual practices, including meditation, prayer and contemplation are intended to develop an individual's inner life. Spiritual experience includes that of connectedness with a larger reality, yielding a more comprehensive self; with other individuals or the human community; with nature or the cosmos; or with the divine realm. Spirituality is often experienced as a source of inspiration or orientation in life. It can encompass belief in immaterial realities or experiences of the immanent or transcendent nature of the world (Montenegro, 2012).
The true meaning of spirituality is that it is way of life that gives proper value to the spiritual dimension of our existence and creation. This means that we acknowledge the primacy of the spirituality in our life, its essentiality, and its finality, and act accordingly.
 Primacy of Spirituality: We acknowledge the primacy of the spiritual in our life. This means that we are certain that we came from a spiritual source, one that is not perceivable by our senses. This spiritual source has real connection with us even now and is really in charge of our life. We cannot get out of this connection with our spiritual source. If we are believers in God, we call this God. If we are atheists but live a life of spirituality, we may call this source Ultimate Energy.

 Essentiality of Spirituality:
Secondly, we acknowledge the essentiality of the spiritual in our life. This means that what is most important in our life is not material things or money, fame or position of authority, but the possession of spiritual qualities which make us more human. For us to be human is to be spiritual. Spirituality is an essential component of our humanity. Without spirituality we are no longer human beings. It is that essential.

 Finality of Spirituality:
Thirdly, we acknowledge the finality of the spiritual. Our goal in life is a spiritual goal, not the accumulation of riches or material rewards such as lands and buildings. The goal of our life is union with the Ultimate Spirit. In this our real and genuine happiness consists.

Who is a Spiritual Person ?
"A spiritual person is like a mariner in the storm, he slackens sail, waits, hopes, and the storms do not prevent him from loving seas. He who loves God shall get the essence of spiritual quality; only who desires spiritual life with his full faith, wisdom and whole heart shall find it. If a person is truly spiritual, he would believe the unity in diversity and the oneness of all life on earth" (Husain, Luqman, & Jahan, 2012).

Spirituality as a Personality Trait:
As a personality trait, spirituality encompasses values like altruism, unity, charity, inner peace, generosity, and purpose in life. Such people score high on psychological tests of spirituality.
For a man with spiritual personality, the responses to life are, in their quality, established and well-organized; one can count in him. He has positive emotions, desires, and ideas. He is a whole person with a unifying pattern of thought and feeling that gives coherence to everything that he does. His "well-integrated" life does not mean a placid life, with all conflicts resolved. Many great souls have been inwardly tortured. In all strong characters, when one listens behind scenes, one hears echoes of strife and contentions. Nevertheless, far from being at loose ends within themselves, such persons have organized their lives around some supreme values and achieved a powerful concentration of purpose and drive.
A spiritual personality refers to the totality of certain spiritual characteristics of a person. Characteristics of spiritual personality include: inner peace, purpose in life, sense of oneness, righteousness, patience, etc.

Noble Attitude toward Others (NATO):
"The essential characteristic of a spiritual person is noble attitude toward others. A spiritual person is one whose behaviour is governed by the divine attributes such as kindness……. and who lives for the sake of others" (Husain, Luqman & Jahan, 2012).

Moral Rectitude (MR):
The core characteristics of a spiritual person whose behaviour is governed by moral rectitude are self-controlled, steadfast, firm and patient, pure and clean, satisfied etc. (Husain, Luqman & Jahan, 2012).
According to Berger (1987), empathy is "the capacity to know emotionally what another is experiencing from within the frame of reference of that other person, the capacity to sample the feelings of another or to put one's self in another's shoes." According to Stein (1989) "Empathy is the experience of foreign consciousness in general." Decety (2004) opines that "A sense of similarity in feelings experienced by the self and the other, without confusion between the two individuals."

Exploring the Relationship between Spiritual Personality and Emotional Empathy among Medical and Unani Students
© The International Journal of Indian Psychology | 156 Emotional Empathy: "Emotional Empathy" is defined as one's vicarious experience of another's emotional experiences --feeling what the other person feels. In the context of personality measurement, it describes individual differences in the tendency to have emotional empathy with others. Some individuals tend to be generally more empathic in their dealings with others; they typically experience more of the feelings others feel, whereas others tend to be generally less empathic (Definition of Emotional Empathy, 2012).

MBBS:
The term "MBBS" stands for Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery.

BUMS:
The term "BUMS" stands for Bachelor of Unani Medicine and Surgery.

LITERATURE REVIEW
The detailed literature review indicated that emotional empathy is linked to various variables which include both personal characteristics and personality variables. The investigator, however, didn't come across a single study where the relationship between spiritual personality and emotional empathy among health care-givers was examined. Hence, the present study was conducted to explore the relationship between spiritual personality and emotional empathy among MBBS and BUMS students. The key literature references are given as under:

Rationale of the Study:
Practitioners of the allopathic medicine and unani medicine understand that a healthy balance between body and mind leads to the total health of an individual. Emotional empathy is very crucial for understanding the needs of those who seek healthcare services. This has the ultimate aim and goal of providing better healthcare services. Empathy is considered as one of the most important spiritual virtues. Therefore, exploring the relationship between spirituality and empathy is of significant importance.

Conceptual Framework:
The following figure representing the conceptual framework provides insight that the factors of spiritual personality are helpful in developing emotional empathy in male and female students of two different streams.

Population and Participants:
The target population consisted of students from faculty of medicine of Jawaharlal Nehru Medical College (JNMC) and faculty of unani of Ajmal Khan Tibbiya College (AKTC), both affiliated to Aligarh Muslim University (AMU), Aligarh, UP. The sample comprised of 100 participants (50 female and 50 male) whose age range was from 24 to 27 years. Out of 100 participants, 50 students were from MBBS course and the remaining 50 students were from BUMS course. The participants were selected by simple random sampling method.

Inclusion Criteria: a) MBBS and BUMS trainees of Aligarh Muslim University b) Both Male and Female trainees c) Those within the age-range of 24 to 27 years Exclusion Criteria: a) Newly joined trainees at AMU b) Healthcare trainees other than MBBS and BUMS c) MBBS and BUMS trainees living outside Aligarh d) MBBS and BUMS trainees outside the age-range of 24-27 years
The split-half correlation of 0.82 was found for the whole sample. The Cronbach's coefficient alpha for the whole sample was found to be 0.86. The Cronbach's alpha for the two factors, namely, noble attitude toward others and moral rectitude were found to be 0.84 and 0.74 respectively.

Validity:
Content validity refers to whether a test is measuring the domain that it is supposed to be measuring. In gathering items for the SPI, the authors collected a wide range of characteristics that seemed relevant to having a spiritual personality. Unreliable items and ambiguous items were discarded, but the final scale includes items about noble attitude toward others and about moral rectitude.

Emotional Empathy Scale (EES):
This scale was developed by Mehrabian and Epstein (l972). This scale consists of 33 statements that inquire about the thoughts and feelings of individuals in a variety of situations each of which assesses a specific aspect of empathy. Scores for each item can range from 1 to 9, with a higher score indicating a greater level of empathy. The subject has to choose the appropriate response to each statement.

Validity:
To support the validity of their test, Mehrabian and Epstein conducted two studies that are consistent with some of the state prison inmates.

Exploring the Relationship between Spiritual Personality and Emotional Empathy among Medical and Unani Students
© The International Journal of Indian Psychology | 160 First, they found that college students who scored high on their emotional empathy test were less willing than low scorers to "punish" fellow students for incorrect answers by administering electric shocks.
In the second experiment, high scorers were more willing than low-scoring students to help a fellow student who was having trouble with a course. Clearly, emotional empathy serves to inhibit aggression and promote helping others.

Procedure of Data Collection:
The following figure illustrates the procedure of data collection in this study.

Data Analysis:
The data were analyzed by means of Pearson Product Moment Correlation. SPSS 16.0 version was used to analyze the data. Pearson Product Moment Correlation was used to examine the relationship between two personality variables among male and female MBBS and BUMS students. The t-test was used for testing the significance of correlation. Z test was used for testing the significance of difference between male and female MBBS and BUMS students in correlation coefficients.

Exploring the Relationship between Spiritual Personality and Emotional Empathy among Medical and Unani Students
© The International Journal of Indian Psychology | 161   As can be seen from the Table No. 1 shown above, significant positive correlation coefficients were found between spiritual personality and emotional empathy among male (r=0.73, p<.01) and female (r=0.828, p<.01) MBBS students, and male BUMS students (r=0.82, p<.01).

Correlation Analysis:
Noble Attitude toward Others factor of spiritual personality scores was found to be positively correlated with emotional empathy among male (r=0.489, p <.05) and female (r=0.78, p<.01) MBBS students, and male BUMS students (r=0.68, p<.01). Significant positive relationships were found between moral rectitude factor of spiritual personality and emotional empathy among male (r=0.752, p<.01) female (r=0.81, p<.01) MBBS students, and male BUMS students (r=.70, p<.01).
The calculated t values are greater than the table t values at .05 and .01 level of significance (cf. Table No. 2). Thus null hypotheses are rejected and it is inferred that spiritual personality and its factors, and emotional empathy are significantly positively correlated among MBBS male and female, and BUMS male students.
As can be seen from Table No. 3, 4, and 5, significant difference were not found between male and female MBBS students in the relationship scores of spiritual personality with emotional empathy (Z=1.241, p>.05) and relationship scores of Noble Attitude toward Others with emotional empathy (Z=1.692, p>.05), and relationship scores of moral rectitude with emotional empathy (Z=0.53, p>.05). These findings imply that the null hypotheses are accepted.
As can be seen from Table No. 6 and 8, significant differences were found between male and female BUMS students in the relationship scores of Spiritual Personality with Emotional Empathy (Z=3.50, p < 0.01); and Moral Rectitude with Emotional Empathy (Z=2.78, p<0.01). These findings indicate that the null hypotheses are accepted. As can be seen from the Table No. 7, significant difference was not found between male and female BUMS students in the relationship scores of Noble Attitude toward Others with emotional empathy (Z=1.91, p > 0.05).
In the MBBS male and female students, and BUMS male students, spiritual personality is related to emotional empathy. These findings suggest that students of helping profession with spiritual personality express more empathic attitude toward others. For many students, the empathic attitude is the consequence of spiritual qualities and role demand feelings of obligations, and the educational process that maximises the role of doctors and Hakeem as caregivers. Of course, the generalisations emanating from the present research may not be directly applicable to all health caregivers because it was conducted on the students of MBBS and BUMS only.

Conclusion:
On the basis of the finally obtained results after the rigorous analysis of the thoroughly gathered data, it can be genuinely concluded that there exists a significant and beneficial relationship between spiritual personality and emotional empathy among medical (MBBS) and unani (BUMS) students.

APPENDIX -1 Spiritual Personality Inventory (SPI)
Circle the number that best describes the degree to which you agree or disagree with each statement.