The purpose of this study was to develop the empathy scale and validate its reliability and validity.
Initially, this research analyzed previous research on empathy and open-ended questionnaires on empathy experiences to identify a concept of empathy and its components that reflect characte...
The purpose of this study was to develop the empathy scale and validate its reliability and validity.
Initially, this research analyzed previous research on empathy and open-ended questionnaires on empathy experiences to identify a concept of empathy and its components that reflect characteristics of Korean culture. Empathy is composed of cognitive, affective, and attitudinal components, and each of the three consists of two subcomponents (cognitive: role-taking and emotion recognition, affective: emotional resonance and vicarious emotion, attitudinal: authenticity and listening). Eighty-one preliminary items were chosen based on existing empathy scales and the responses from 242 adults to the open-ended questionnaires on empathy experiences.
In the second step, this study developed a 65-item preliminary version of the empathy scale through two rounds of expert evaluation. After a pilot test with 634 adults nationwide and exploratory factor analysis, the six components (role-taking, emotion recognition, emotional resonance, vicarious emotion, authenticity and listening) and 37 items were identified.
In the third stage, through the main study conducted with 351 adults nationwide and the following confirmatory factor analysis, 32 items of the hierarchical second-order factor model were determined. Empathy is composed of three components(cognitive, affective, and attitudinal) each of which consists of two subcomponents: cognitive - role-taking (5 items) and emotion recognition (5 items); affective - emotional resonance (4 items) and vicarious emotion (6 items); attitudinal - authenticity (6 items) and listening (6 items).
A confirmatory factor analysis was carried out to assess congruence between the constructs and observed variables, and distinction among the latent variables, which indicated that the scale’s construct validity was acceptable. The construct validity and concurrent validity were found acceptable as the empathy scale developed in this study was found to be positively correlated with other instruments such as the Social Interest Inventory, the Interpersonal Reaction Index, the Balanced Emotional Empathy Scale, the Construction and Validation of a Global Interpersonal Communication Competence Scale, which were designed to assess similar constructs. Moreover, cross-validation was also verified for the hierarchical second-order factor models.
Next, it was tested whether the empathy scale of this study measures the same constructs in different gender (male vs. female) and age (20s and 30s vs. 40s and above) groups (measurement equivalence). A latent mean analysis by gender and age showed no significant difference in the levels of empathy.
In the fourth step, the reliability of the empathy scale was analyzed. Cronbach α for the empathy scale was .93, ranging from .849 to .903 for the three components of empathy, and from .730 to .893 for their subcomponents. The 4-week test-retest reliability for the correlation analysis was .768, ranging from .658 to .718 for the three components of empathy, and from .642 to .682 for their subcomponents, showing stable reliability despite the passage of time. Lastly, implications and application of the empathy scale developed in this research were discussed.
The purpose of this study was to develop the empathy scale and validate its reliability and validity.
Initially, this research analyzed previous research on empathy and open-ended questionnaires on empathy experiences to identify a concept of empathy and its components that reflect characteristics of Korean culture. Empathy is composed of cognitive, affective, and attitudinal components, and each of the three consists of two subcomponents (cognitive: role-taking and emotion recognition, affective: emotional resonance and vicarious emotion, attitudinal: authenticity and listening). Eighty-one preliminary items were chosen based on existing empathy scales and the responses from 242 adults to the open-ended questionnaires on empathy experiences.
In the second step, this study developed a 65-item preliminary version of the empathy scale through two rounds of expert evaluation. After a pilot test with 634 adults nationwide and exploratory factor analysis, the six components (role-taking, emotion recognition, emotional resonance, vicarious emotion, authenticity and listening) and 37 items were identified.
In the third stage, through the main study conducted with 351 adults nationwide and the following confirmatory factor analysis, 32 items of the hierarchical second-order factor model were determined. Empathy is composed of three components(cognitive, affective, and attitudinal) each of which consists of two subcomponents: cognitive - role-taking (5 items) and emotion recognition (5 items); affective - emotional resonance (4 items) and vicarious emotion (6 items); attitudinal - authenticity (6 items) and listening (6 items).
A confirmatory factor analysis was carried out to assess congruence between the constructs and observed variables, and distinction among the latent variables, which indicated that the scale’s construct validity was acceptable. The construct validity and concurrent validity were found acceptable as the empathy scale developed in this study was found to be positively correlated with other instruments such as the Social Interest Inventory, the Interpersonal Reaction Index, the Balanced Emotional Empathy Scale, the Construction and Validation of a Global Interpersonal Communication Competence Scale, which were designed to assess similar constructs. Moreover, cross-validation was also verified for the hierarchical second-order factor models.
Next, it was tested whether the empathy scale of this study measures the same constructs in different gender (male vs. female) and age (20s and 30s vs. 40s and above) groups (measurement equivalence). A latent mean analysis by gender and age showed no significant difference in the levels of empathy.
In the fourth step, the reliability of the empathy scale was analyzed. Cronbach α for the empathy scale was .93, ranging from .849 to .903 for the three components of empathy, and from .730 to .893 for their subcomponents. The 4-week test-retest reliability for the correlation analysis was .768, ranging from .658 to .718 for the three components of empathy, and from .642 to .682 for their subcomponents, showing stable reliability despite the passage of time. Lastly, implications and application of the empathy scale developed in this research were discussed.
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