Reliability and validity of the Japanese version of the active-emphatic listening scale

Active-emphatic listening is active listening that focuses on empathy. The Active-Empathic Listening Scale (AELS) is a self-report scale comprising three dimensions: sensing, processing, and responding. However, translated versions are not available for languages used in Asian countries, such as Japanese. The aim of the present study was to demonstrate and report on the reliability and validity of the Japanese version of the AELS.

After the scale was back translated, 728 Japanese university students completed the Japanese AELS. Of those participants, 566 responded to Japanese versions of the Interpersonal Reactivity Index (IRI) and Encode, Decode, Control, and Regulate Model (ENDCOREs) for validation, and the Japanese AELS was administered again to 59 participants after 3 weeks, to determine test-retest reliability. This study used confirmatory factor analysis to validate the scale's three-factor structure. To evaluate reliability, Cronbach's α, McDonald's omega, and intra-class correlation coefficient were calculated. To examine validity, correlation and partial correlation analyses were conducted.

Results indicated that the factor structure of the Japanese AELS was equivalent to that of the original AELS (CFI = .942, TLI = .920, RMSEA = .055). The scale had adequate internal reliability (sensing: α = .64/ ω = .72, processing: α = .61/ ω = .62, responding: α = .68/ ω = .77, total: α = .82/ ω = .86) and a moderate test-retest intraclass correlation coefficient (sensing: .53, 95%Cl [.31-.69], processing: .48, 95%Cl [.26-.65], responding: .52, 95%Cl [.31-.68], total: .51, 95%Cl [.29-.68]). Criterion-related validity was demonstrated by the positive correlation between the Japanese AELS and other measures (IRI and ENDCOREs).

These results suggest that the validity of the Japanese AELS is relatively comparable to the original AELS; however, it will be necessary to determine potential cultural concerns by comparing Japanese culture and other Asian cultures in future studies. The Japanese AELS is expected to be used to measure the outcomes of active listening training in Japan.