Parental Bonding and Empathy in University Students: Demographic Analysis

Abstract

The aim of this research was to examine the demographic influence on the parental bonding and empathy in university students. Using convenient sampling, a sample size of 482 was achieved. Data were gathered using the Parental Bonding Instrument (PBI), the Interpersonal Reactivity Index (IRI), and a demographic questionnaire. Neural network analysis and descriptive statistics were performed with SPSS-21. The study results of normalized importance indicated that demographic factors have a significant predictive impact on parental bonding. Specifically, father occupation was the most significant predictor, closely followed by mother education, birth order, socioeconomic status, father education, gender, age, number of siblings' residential area, and family system. Further, demographic factors have been shown to have a significant predictive impact on empathy. Specifically, mother education was the most important predictor, followed by father education and career, gender, age, residential status, socioeconomic level, family structure, and number of siblings. The findings demonstrated that among university students, parental bonding and empathy were most strongly influenced by parental education and occupation, particularly the mother's education. Factors related to family structure, such as siblings, birth order, and place of residency, had little effect, but gender and age had considerable effects. This emphasizes how important socioeconomic class and family background are in forming emotional attachment and empathy.