Empathy in PSIwhere we stand and where to go from here

Abstract

The influence of emotions is very significant in PSIT, since these professionals usually find themselves interpreting in communicative situations in which the people that they provide a service to suffer some kind of emotional distress. This can be particularly challenging for interpreters, since many codes of conduct on the ethics of the profession highlight neutrality as one of the main features that they must respect. In the case of empathy, a value expected to be offered by public workers, many studies have highlighted the importance it has to improve interactions. However, this topic has not been developed in depth in many research studies up to date. Therefore, the aim of this article is to conduct a systematic review of the studies published in the field of PSIT with relation to empathy and how it affects the profession. We will limit the review to studies published from 2000 to 2020. In the conclusions we will reflect on the importance of conducting this kind of studies to review current research needs and establish future directions.