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Development and validation of the Basic Empathy Scale.

Darrick Jolliffe1, David P Farrington

  • 1Institute of Criminology, University of Cambridge, Sidgwick Site, Cambridge, England CB3 9DT, UK. dj211@cam.ac.uk

Journal of Adolescence
|October 4, 2005
PubMed
Summary

The Basic Empathy Scale (BES) was developed to measure affective and cognitive empathy in adolescents. Findings show females score higher, and empathy relates to personality, intelligence, and social factors.

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Area of Science:

  • Psychology
  • Developmental Psychology
  • Social Psychology

Background:

  • Empathy is crucial for social functioning and prosocial behavior.
  • Adolescence is a key developmental period for empathy.
  • Existing measures may not fully capture the nuances of adolescent empathy.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To develop and validate the Basic Empathy Scale (BES) for adolescents.
  • To examine gender differences in affective and cognitive empathy.
  • To explore correlates of empathy in adolescence.

Main Methods:

  • Development of a 40-item scale measuring affective and cognitive empathy.
  • Factor analysis to reduce the scale to 20 items.
  • Confirmatory factor analysis to validate the two-factor structure in a separate adolescent sample.

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Main Results:

  • The 20-item BES demonstrated a robust two-factor structure (affective and cognitive empathy).
  • Females consistently scored higher than males on both empathy dimensions.
  • Empathy showed significant correlations with intelligence, personality traits (extraversion, neuroticism, agreeableness, conscientiousness, openness), parental supervision, and socioeconomic status.

Conclusions:

  • The BES is a reliable and valid measure for assessing empathy in adolescents.
  • Gender, personality, and socio-environmental factors influence adolescent empathy.
  • Higher empathy is associated with prosocial behaviors, such as willingness to help victims of bullying.