Compassionate communication and levels of participant empathy and self-compassion

Within scientific conflict management literature, Rosenberg’s method of Nonviolent Communication (NVC) and its claims have not yet been empirically examined. This explorative paper provides a theoretical framework of this method by taking Goleman’s model of Emotional Intelligence as a starting point. The role of self-empathy in conflicts was examined by means of a mixed-methods experiment, in which the experimental group received a self-empathy treatment based on NVC, while the control group received a filler task. The conflict situation concerned a conflict between the participant and a hypothetical roommate. Results of the qualitative content analysis showed that self-empathy made people more aware of their inner state and that these people preferred to cooperate in solving the conflict, while participants in the control group shifted the problem. In addition to the content analysis, participants’ emotions were analyzed quantitatively. Results showed that giving oneself empathy neutralizes the intensity of emotions. The results were discussed in order to verify the claims of NVC.