The Role of Emotional and Cognitive Empathy, Moral Metacognition and Quality of Life in Predicting Moral Behavior of Nurses

Today, ethics has become an integral part of human life and moral behavior plays an important role in improving the performance and effectiveness of organizations. As a result, this study aimed to determine the role of emotional and cognitive empathy, moral metacognition and quality of life in predicting moral behavior nurses. Method: The present study was cross-sectional from type of correlation. The study population includes nurses the hospitals of Varamin city in 2019 (N=359) which from them 200 nurses were selected as a sample by stratified random sampling method. Data were collected by the questionnaires of emotional and cognitive empathy (Reniers et al), moral metacognition (McMahon & Good), quality of life (WHO) and moral behavior (Swanson & Hill). Data were analyzed by Pearson correlation coefficient and multiple regression with enter model methods in SPSS-19 software. Results: The findings showed that emotional empathy, cognitive empathy, moral metacognition and quality of life had a positive and significant relationship with moral behavior of nurses. In addition, the variables of emotional and cognitive empathy, moral metacognition and quality of life were able to predict 56% of the changes in moral behavior of nurses (P<0.01). Conclusion: According to the results, to improve the moral behavior of nurses, their emotional and cognitive empathy, moral metacognition and quality of life can be improved.