The features of empathy and reflection in a person at different stages of education

Background: The article discusses empathy and reflection as psychological constructs in personality orientation during education and work-related activities. The article aims to study the features of empathy and reflection at different stages of education and work-related (for example, medicine-related) activities, as well as to search for the relationship between these constructs and certain individual psychological characteristics of a person. Materials and methods: The study involved 169 medical students aged from 17 to 30 years. The students were divided into 3 groups in accordance with the stages of education and work-related activities: first-year students (initial stage) - 59 persons, third-year students (practice-related stage) - 52 persons, fourth-year students (final stage of training) - 58 persons. The following research methods were used: the diagnosis of multicommunicative empathy after I.M. Yusupov, a technique for diagnosing the severity and direction of reflection by M. Grant, California Psychological Inventory. The following data processing methods were used: descriptive statistics, the Kruskal-Wallis test, the Kendall rank correlation coefficient, a multilayer perceptron neural network of a regression type. Results: The general level of empathy as a whole tends to increase from stage to stage and is higher at the final stage of education. In the structure of reflective processes, there is a predominance of self-reflection mechanisms aimed at analyzing one’s own inner world and are associated with self-sufficiency and independence. Conclusion: Empathy is formed and developed when mastering the specifics and requirements of work-related activities. The predominance of self-reflection can adversely affect the understanding of the other person’s inner world, which is necessary for future subjects of socionomic professions. In the psychological profiles of students, there are qualities that conflict with each other and are the cause of intrapersonal conflicts, which lead to social maladaptation and frustration. Thus, psychological correction is required for resolving the identified contradictions at all stages of education.