The Role of Empathy and Vicarious Trauma on Wisdom and Psychological Distress among Lawyers

Background:The present study aims to understand the effects of Empathy and Vicarious Trauma on Wisdom and Psychological Distress among lawyers.In India, the ratio of lawyers to the entire population is quite low and hence, lawyers often find themselves overworked.Constantly working in a stressful environment such as a court has a negative impact on mental health.Therefore, understanding their mental health is crucial.Methodology: A quasi-experimental design was used in the study.The data was collected from 94 litigating civil and criminal lawyers from age of 24 -50 years (females = 54; males = 40).The sample was derived by the Purposive sampling method.The Toronto Empathy Scale, The Vicarious Trauma Scale, The Threedimensional Wisdom Scale-12, and The Kessler Psychological Distress Scale were administered to measure Empathy, Vicarious Trauma, Wisdom, and Psychological Distress respectively.Results: As a statistical tool for data analysis, Independent Samples t-tests were used.The results indicated that Empathy has a significant effect on Wisdom [ t (92) = 3.48, p<0.01].However, Empathy has no significant effect on Psychological Distress [t (92) = 0.23, ns].Furthermore, Vicarious Trauma has a significant effect on both Wisdom [ t (92) = 2.31, p<0.05] and Psychological Distress [t (92) = 3.56, p<0.01]. Conclusion:In India, the mental health of lawyers is often compromised which has serious repercussions.Hence, there is a need to address these psychological concerns for the psychological well-being of the lawyers.