{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,8]],"date-time":"2026-09-08T10:10:40Z","timestamp":1788862240190,"version":"build-2803163510"},"reference-count":45,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"9","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,7]],"date-time":"2026-09-07T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1788739200000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Behav. Sci.","Behavioral Sciences"],"abstract":"<jats:p>This study examines the relationships among professional ethical sensitivity, empathy, and attitudes toward individuals with disabilities among active social workers, specifically focusing on the mediating role of empathy as an \u201cemotional bridge.\u201d Employing a cross-sectional correlational survey design, data were collected from 355 social workers. Participants completed validated scales measuring professional ethical sensitivity, empathic tendencies, and attitudes toward disability. A mediation analysis was conducted using Hayes\u2019 PROCESS Macro (Model 4) with 5000 bootstrap samples. The results indicate that professional ethical sensitivity has a significant positive direct effect on both empathy and attitudes toward disability. Furthermore, empathy significantly mediates the relationship between ethical sensitivity and attitudes toward disability. However, the relatively small indirect effect and the low total variance explained suggest that social workers\u2019 professional attitudes are shaped not only by ethical and empathic factors but also by other contextual dynamics not captured in this model. Ultimately, these findings emphasize that theoretical ethics education in the social work curriculum must be integrated with the development of affective capacities, such as empathy, to translate them into tangible, positive professional actions.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/bs16091593","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,7]],"date-time":"2026-09-07T13:53:28Z","timestamp":1788789208000},"page":"1593","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Ethics, Empathy, and Attitudes: Exploring the Mediating Role of Empathy in Social Workers\u2019 Perspectives Toward Disability"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"16","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-2153-4039","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Ertu\u011frul","family":"Hatipo\u011flu","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Social Work, Faculty of Health Sciences, Hitit University, 19030 Corum, Turkey"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"},{"role":"conceptualization","vocabulary":"credit"},{"role":"investigation","vocabulary":"credit"},{"role":"methodology","vocabulary":"credit"},{"role":"supervision","vocabulary":"credit"},{"role":"formal-analysis","vocabulary":"credit"},{"role":"writing-review-editing","vocabulary":"credit"},{"role":"data-curation","vocabulary":"credit"},{"role":"resources","vocabulary":"credit"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-3450-8596","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"H\u00fcsamettin","family":"\u00c7etin","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Social Work, Faculty of Health Sciences, K\u0131r\u0131kkale University, 71100 Kirikkale, Turkey"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"},{"role":"data-curation","vocabulary":"credit"},{"role":"writing-review-editing","vocabulary":"credit"},{"role":"conceptualization","vocabulary":"credit"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-4916-8317","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"K\u00fcbra Arslan","family":"Alda\u015f","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Social Work, Faculty of Health Sciences, K\u0131r\u0131kkale University, 71100 Kirikkale, Turkey"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,7]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","first-page":"1","article-title":"Nathanson ve Giffords sosyal hizmet etik \u00f6l\u00e7e\u011fi: Ge\u00e7erlilik ve g\u00fcvenilirlik \u00e7al\u0131\u015fmas\u0131","volume":"6","author":"Artan","year":"2019","journal-title":"Sa\u011fl\u0131k Bilimleri ve Meslekleri Dergisi"},{"key":"ref_2","unstructured":"Barker, L. 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