PROMOTING STUDENT EMPATHY THROUGH CASEL-ALIGNED SOCIAL AND EMOTIONAL LEARNING: A SYSTEMATIC REVIEW OF SCHOOL-BASED INTERVENTIONS

Abstract

Empathy is a multidimensional capacity that includes understanding another person’s
perspective, sharing or responding to another person’s emotional state, and expressing empathic
concern. Although social and emotional learning (SEL) is frequently proposed as a school-based
pathway for strengthening empathy, the evidence base includes heterogeneous interventions,
implementation, assessment, and conceptual studies. This systematic review examined how
school-based SEL interventions that were explicitly or transparently aligned with the Collaborative
for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning (CASEL) framework addressed student empathy.
Searches of Scopus and ScienceDirect identified 1,709 records. Following database filtering,
screening, and retrieval, 26 reports were retained in an evidence map. Thirteen evaluated student
interventions, including five studies with direct empathy, perspective-taking, or empathic-concern
outcomes; the remaining reports provided implementation, assessment, or contextual evidence. A
narrative synthesis distinguished direct empathy outcomes from closely related interpersonal
constructs, behavioral proxies, and distal school outcomes. Direct intervention studies reported
promising short-term changes in empathy or in closely specified empathy dimensions, but
heterogeneous designs, measures, cultural settings, and follow-up periods limited the
generalizability of the findings. Proxy outcomes such as prosocial behavior, school connectedness,
or reduced bullying were informative but did not independently demonstrate increased empathy.
Implementation evidence emphasized educator preparation, leadership support, contextual
adaptation, time, resources, and program coherence. CASEL-aligned SEL may provide a useful
framework for empathy-focused school counseling, provided that interventions explicitly target
and directly measure empathy.