Evaluation of the relationship between empathy skills and job satisfaction of the professionals working in the social services field: Example of Manisa

Purpose: The aim of this research is to examine the relationship between empathy skills and job satisfaction of professional staff working in Manisa Family, Labor and Social Services Provincial Directorate and affiliated organizations. Material and Method: The research was conducted with 125 professional staff working in Manisa Family, Labor and Social Services Provincial Directorate and affiliated organizations. In this research based on the quantitative and general screening model, the data were collected between March and June 2019. The sociodemographic questionnaire prepared by the researcher and Minnesota Job Satisfaction Scale, Empathic Tendency Scale, and Empathetic Skill Scale-B Form constitute the data collection tools of the research. The research data were collected with face to face interview technique. The collected data were analyzed in SPSS 22.0 package program. The data were analyzed by using Chi Square (X2), t test, One Way Variance Analysis (One Way Anova) tests. Findings: It was observed that the level of job satisfaction and empathic tendency of the participants who chose their profession willingly. Participants in the 22-34 age group were found to have low job satisfaction. It was observed that the participants with postgraduate education had high emphatic skill scores. It was observed that the participants who thought that the undergraduate education they had received was sufficient to carry out their work, had high empathic tendency levels. When the correlation between the three sub-dimensions of job satisfaction and job satisfaction and empathic tendency and empathic skills was evaluated, it was seen that high job satisfaction contributed to the development of empathic tendency. Result: It has been concluded that the educational status, choosing your job willingly, age, total working time in the profession are the factors that affect job satisfaction and empathic tendency. Keywords: Empathy, Job Satisfaction, Professional, Social Services