Dimensionality of Empathy and Its Correlates

Abstract

To investigate the dimensions of empathy and their influence on various interpersonal measures, 122 college students were administered a questionnaire consisting of two empathy scales, various interpersonal measures, and two altruism measures. Factor analysis and subsequent multiple regression analyses indicated that empathy is comprised of affective and cognitive components, and that these components affect other interpersonal measures differently. Developmental implications of the two empathy components were discussed, and the relationship of the empathy components to self-disclosure was explored to point out the interpersonal processes involved in empathic responding and to delineate a developmental continuum of empathy and self-disclosure.