Correlation Between Reading Motivation and Empathy Among Adolescents in West Java']Java, Indonesia

Nowadays, instead of enjoy and finish reading the book, adolesccents spend more hours on screens (tv, gadget, computer, etc.). The primary purpose of the present research was to determine the correlation of reading motivation and empathy among adolescencts. The sample was consisted of 384 adolescents aged between 13-18. Empathy was asessed using Interpersonal Reactivity Index (IRI) scale by Davis (1980) which has two components, cognitive and affective, while scale of reading motivation was adapted from McGeown (2013) which has two dimensions, intrinsic and extrinsic. By Pearson correlation, it shows that only intrinsic reading motivation correlates positively and significantly with affective-empathy component. Additional analysis shows that there is significant difference in cognitive component among respondents who choose and do not choose to read fiction books (such as comics, novels and short stories) and non-fiction (such as history and school textbooks). This study implies that teachers may include various types of book in classroom in order to develop adolescents' cognitive empathy skill instead of using scientific book only.