the relationship between critical thinking and empathic tendency: the example of preservice physical education teachers

The purpose of this study was to examine preservice physical education teachers’ critical thinking skills and empathic tendencies according to some demographic variables, and to determine the relationship between their critical thinking skills and empathic tendencies. The study was conducted on 1006 preservice physical education teachers who were selected from ten universities. In the study, the California Critical Thinking Disposition Inventory and the Empathy Tendency Criteria were administered on the participants as data collection tools. Critical thinking skills of the participants were at the low level and empathic tendencies of the participants were at middle level. Whereas there was no significant difference according to gender, the education level of the parents of the participants and the years of study spent at the university can be said to be determining factors in the critical thinking and empathic skills of the pre-service physical education teachers.