Self-report empathy scales lack consistency: Evidence from exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis
Empathy is a construct with a long history of definitional variability, which is reflected in the variety of scales designed to measure it. A recent investigation involved a series of analyses to explore constructs assessed in the self-report of empathy and to illuminate the inconsistency in measurement across multiple scales. The current investigation was designed to extend this line of inquiry by focusing solely on cognitive and affective subscales of empathy. A sample of 855 undergraduates completed empathy questionnaires that contained both an affective and a cognitive subscale.