The mediating role of empathy in the relationship between communication conflicts and organizational trust: The case of Elaziğ health workers

Mankinds have been continuously in communication with their environment since their existence. People maintain their relations positively or negatively thanks to the communication that they establish throughout their lives. Communication conflicts, which are inevitable within this process, appear in front of us anywhere in which human relations exist. Trust and empathy are among the prerequisite for communication anywhere in which there are human relations. The negative influences of conflict, which is inevitable in organizations where communication conflicts are not managed properly, can be disappeared by creating mutual empathy and trust. Communication conflicts are seen minimum in organizations where environment of trust dominates. At the same time, they are seen quite a lot in organizations in which empathy skill is weak. Briefly, the size of communication is identified by the synthesis of interpersonal and organizational communication, trust and empathy. In the light of such information, the mediating role of empathy in the relationship between communication conflicts and trust notion constitutes the aim of this study. The research sample includes professionals working in public (The ministry of health and Fırat University) and private hospitals in the province of Elazığ. 3712 health professionals are employed in these hospitals in total. The research data were collected in January-February 2020 through survey technique for the three health institutions. Communication Conflicts Scale, Empathic Tendency Scale and Organizational Trust Scale are graded in accordance with 5-point Likert system. There are empathic skill scale, 6 short stories and 12 responses about each of them.The number of surveys evaluated is 352. According to the research data, empathy skills have a role of mediating variable in the relationship between communication conflicts and organizational trust. The mediating effect which was identified was at a moderate level. The total effect of communication conflicts was 20.06% on organizational trust; 5.03% of it was direct effect and 15.23% was indirect effect. In addition to, tendency to emphatyze have a role of mediating variable in the relationship between communication conflicts and organizational trust. The mediating effect which was identified was at a moderate level. The total effect of communication conflicts was 20.03% on organizational trust; 6.59% of it was direct effect and 13.44% was indirect effect. Keywords: Communication conflicts, communication, trust, empathy