Small ensemble participation represents a unique form of human social activity involving a profound level of interpersonal and emotional communication. Previous researchers have suggested that engagement in group music making may have a positive influence on various social-emotional skills, including empathy. In line with this view, the initial study explored the relationship between small ensemble experience and empathy among college music students in the United States. The study results revealed a close association between the two, with students who participated in small ensembles more frequently showing a higher level of empathy. This study aimed to replicate the initial study using the identical survey questionnaire in a college music student population in South Korea (N = 183). Overall, Korean students scored significantly lower in the empathy measure than the US student sample, which echoed relatively lower empathy among Asian American students in the initial study. Also, consistent with the previous finding, an association between the primary area of music study and empathy was found, with popular music majors showing a higher level of empathy than classical music major students. Finally, some of the small ensemble experience variables appeared to be significant predictors of students’ empathy skills, which partially replicated the initial study.

小型集体参与代表了人类社会活动的一种独特形式，涉及深刻的人际交往和情感交流。以前的研究人员认为，参与集体音乐制作可能会对各种社交情感技能产生积极影响，包括同理心。根据这一观点，最初的研究探讨了美国大学音乐学生的小型合奏体验与同理心之间的关系。研究结果揭示了两者之间的密切联系，参加小型合奏活动的学生表现出更高水平的同理心。本研究旨在使用相同的调查问卷在韩国的大学音乐学生群体中复制最初的研究 ( N= 183）。总体而言，韩国学生在同理心测量中的得分明显低于美国学生样本，这与初始研究中亚裔美国学生的同理心相对较低相呼应。此外，与之前的发现一致，音乐研究的主要领域与同理心之间存在关联，流行音乐专业的学生比古典音乐专业的学生表现出更高的同理心。最后，一些小的整体经验变量似乎是学生同理心技能的重要预测因子，这部分地复制了最初的研究。