RESUMO
Empathy enhances an individual’s self-image and also helps to maintain relationships which add up to the well-being of an individual. Empathy and psychological well-being have an influence on school counselors’ job performance in their schools. The aim was to examine the relationships between empathy and psychological well-being in 53 Vietnamese school counselors (19 males and 34 females) in Ho Chi Minh City in 2018. To achieve this goal, multiple linear regression analyses were done to see the independent effects of explanatory variables and t-test for independent samples were used for gender comparisons. Participants completed 2 measures, the Interpersonal Reactivity Index (IRI) and Mental Health Continuum-Short Form (MHC-SF). Results showed that personal distress negatively predicted psychological well-being. Neither perspective taking fantasy nor empathic concern predicted psychological well-being. This result supports those found in previous studies and suggests that personal distress, an effective component of empathy, plays an important role in the improvement of psychological well-being. We also found females reported lower psychological well-being than males. Our findings may explain the previous research finding that gender discrimination has an impact on the psychological well-being of females at work. The results of this research are necessary for Vietnamese school counselors to have a better understanding of their mental health.