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ERIC Number: EJ815562
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2005
Pages: 9
Abstractor: As Provided
Reference Count: 18
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-1446-5442
The Development of a Scale to Measure Empathy in 8- and 9-Year Old Children
Garton, Alison F.; Gringart, Eyal
Australian Journal of Educational & Developmental Psychology, v5 p17-25 2005
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. (Contains 3 tables.)
University of Newcastle. School of Education, Callaghan, NSW 2308, Australia. e-mail: ajedp@newcastle.edu.au; Web site: http://www.newcastle.edu.au/group/ajedp
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Evaluative
Education Level: Elementary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers: Interpersonal Reactivity Index (Davis)