The goal of this study is to investigate whether or not critical thinking plays a role as a mediator in the connection between having an empathic disposition and attitude towards human rights. The research was designed in accordance with the correlational survey model, which is one of the quantitative research designs. Structural equation modeling based on the correlational survey model was used in the study because it was aimed to examine the mediating effect of critical thinking on the relationship between empathic tendency and human rights attitude. In this direction, structural equation modeling was used to test the mediation model after it had been theoretically developed in the study. The research was conducted on a total of 494 secondary school students, with 211 female and 283 male participants. The participants of the research are fifth, sixth, seventh, and eighth grades students. The sample of the study was determined by simple random sampling method. As data collection tools, the KA-SI Empathic Tendency Scale-Adolescent Form, the Human Rights Attitude Scale, and the Critical Thinking Tendency Scale was used. In the study, structural equation models were used to perform descriptive data analysis, reliability analysis, correlation analysis, and mediation analysis. According to the study, there is a comparable and weak correlation between human rights and empathy, and a comparable and moderate correlation exists between empathy and critical thinking. Comparable and subordinate connections exist between critical thinking and human rights. In the relationship between an empathic disposition and a human rights attitude, it has been discovered that critical thinking plays a significant and full mediator role.

Empathic tendency, human rights attitude, critical thinking, structural equation modeling