Year: 2005
Type: article
Abstract: Empathy has been suggested to facilitate effective collaborative problem solving in children. The current study adapted the Interpersonal Reactivity Index (IRI, Davis, 1980), a well-validated empathy measure for adults, for use with children aged 8 and 9 years. Four hundred and thirteen school children aged between 7;11 and 9;11 years completed the new measure, "Feeling and Thinking" (F&T) aimed at measuring both the affective and cognitive components of empathy. Principal Components Analysis with Varimax rotation produced a clear and logical four factor solution that resembled but did not duplicate the IRI. Further scrutiny reduced the scale to a more parsimonious 12 item, two factor scale representing the two components of empathy. It is suggested that F&T is capable of measuring empathy in children. Further psychometric investigations of the F&T will enhance knowledge of the affective/cognitive distinction in empathy.
Authors: Alison F. Garton, Eyal Gringart
Institution: Edith Cowan University
Language: English
Subfield: Psychiatry and Mental health
Field: Medicine
Domain: Health Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W1518761962