Narrowing the empathy gap between doctors and patients using emotion forecasting

We investigated the differences between medical students’ affective forecasting for self and their forecasting of patients’ affective responses. To do this, we developed an affective forecasting situation questionnaire and tested its validity with a sample of 272 Chinese medical students and 66 patients. Results showed that there was a significant correlation between medical students’ affective forecasting for self and their forecasting of patients’ emotions. Medical students who were calmer (vs. less calm) during affective forecasting for themselves were more accurate in forecasting the patient’s emotions. We suggest that emotional intelligence training should be highlighted in Chinese medical education to improve students’ ability to forecast their own and others’ emotions.