Abbreviated measurement of empathy in undergraduates: A proposal for the basic empathy scale

The assessment of empathy advanced substantially with the introduction of the Basic Empathy Scale (BES), a widely used self-report instrument. However, its abbreviated iteration (BESB) has not been systematically examined in young Hispanic adults within higher education contexts. This study aimed to adapt and validate the BES-B for use in university students. A non-probability sample of 755 Peruvian students from diverse academic disciplines participated in the study, with women representing 56.9% of the sample. The internal structure of the scale was examined through analyses of dimensionality, reliability, and measurement equivalence, as well as clinimetrically relevant parameters derived from comparisons across competing measurement models. Results supported a two-factor structure with minor cross-loadings, with satisfactory factor loadings indicating adequate representation of affective and cognitive empathy. Measurement invariance by sex was established, including residual equivalence, and metric equivalence with previous studies indicated greater alignment with adolescent than with child samples. Factor complexity and interfactor correlations were mild and theoretically consistent. Reliability estimates were approximately 0.72, suggesting that score differences greater than 14 points are statistically uncommon. The findings support the use of the adapted BES-B as a reliable and valid measure of empathy in undergraduate populations.