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Brazilian-Portuguese Empathy Quotient: Evidences of its Construct Validity and Reliability

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  10 January 2013

Valdiney V. Gouveia ,
Taciano L. Milfont ,
Rildésia S. V. Gouveia ,
Julio Rique Neto  and
Lilian Galvão
Valdiney V. Gouveia*
Affiliation:
Universidade Federal da Paraíba (Brazil)
Taciano L. Milfont
Affiliation:
Victoria University of Wellington (New Zealand)
Rildésia S. V. Gouveia
Affiliation:
Centro Universitário de João Pessoa (Brazil)
Julio Rique Neto
Affiliation:
Universidade Federal da Paraíba (Brazil)
Lilian Galvão
Affiliation:
Universidade Federal de Campina Grande (Brazil)
*
Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Valdiney V. Gouveia. Departamento de Psicologia, Universidade Federal da Paraiba, 58.051-900, Joao Pessoa – PB (Brazil). E-mail: [email protected] - Homepage: vvgouveia.net
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Abstract

Empathy is the ability to read other's mind and understand their intentions. This paper examines the psychometric properties of the Brazilian-Portuguese version of a short form of the empathy quotient (EQ, 15 items). The EQ-15 was administered to 237 participants from the general population from João Pessoa, Brazil. Confirmatory factor analyses supported the tripartite model with cognitive, emotional and social empathy factors. In line with other studies, gender differences were only observed for the first two factors, with female participants scoring higher on both, which suggests that the social factor might not constitute a truly dimension of empathy. Strong evidence for convergent and discriminant validity was only observed for the cognitive factor. The poor psychometric parameters of the emotional and social factors are argued to reflect the complexity and contrasting ideas of their items. The possibility of elaborating specific items for the emotional and social factors is also discussed.

La empatía es la capacidad de leer en la mente del otro y comprender sus intenciones. Este artículo analiza las propiedades psicométricas de la versión brasileña-portuguesa del formulario corto del cociente de empatía (EQ, de 15 ítems). El EQ-15 se aplicó a 237 participantes de la población general de João Pessoa, Brasil. Los análisis factoriales confirmatorios apoyaron el modelo tripartito con factores cognitivo, emocional y social de la empatía. En consonancia con otros estudios, las diferencias de género sólo se observaron en los dos primeros factores, con las mujeres participantes puntuando más en ambos, lo que sugiere que el factor social podría no constituir una verdadera dimensión de la empatía. Sólo en el factor cognitivo se observó una fuerte evidencia de validez convergente y discriminante. Se considera que los pobres parámetros psicométricos de los factores emocional y social reflejan la complejidad de sus ítems. También se discute la posibilidad de elaborar ítems específicos para los factores emocionales y sociales.

Keywords

empathycognitionaffectemotionempathy quotientgenderempatíacogniciónafectoemoción cociente de empatíagénero
Type
Research Article
Information
The Spanish Journal of Psychology , Volume 15 , Issue 2 , July 2012 , pp. 777 - 782
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2012

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