Toronto Empathy Questionnaire (TEQ)
(Spreng et al., 2009 ).
Variable
The development of the TEQ did not begin with a conceptual definition of empathy other than to consider it
at the broadest level and derive a measure based on existing empathy scales.
Description
Spreng et al. (2009) factor analyzed responses made on every self-report measure of empathy they could iden-
tify, resulting in 142 items from 11 different empathy and related questionnaires including the IRI ( Davis, 1980,
1983 ), Hogan’s Empathy Scale ( Hogan, 1969 ), Questionnaire Measure of Emotional Empathy ( Mehrabian &
Epstein, 1972 ), BEES ( Mehrabian, 2000 ), Scale of Ethnocultural Empathy ( Wang et al., 2003 ), Jefferson Scale of
Physician Empathy ( Hojat et al., 2001 ), Nursing Empathy Scale ( Reynolds, 2000 ), Japanese Adolescent Empathy
Scale ( Hashimoto & Shiomi, 2002 ), and the Measure of Emotional Intelligence (Schutte et al., 1998). An additional
36 items were composed descriptive of individuals with altered empathic responding due to neurological or psy-
chiatric disease. The resulting TEQ places an emphasis on the emotional component of empathy, and consists of
16 items, with an equal number of positively and reverse worded items. Responses are made using a 5-point
Likert-type scale.
Sample
The initial scale development sample consisted of 200 undergraduates (100 male, 100 female) (mean age 518.8
years, SD51.2). A validation sample comprised 79 undergraduates (24 male, 55 female) of similar age
(mean518.9 years, SD53.0). Another validational sample consisted of 65 undergraduates (mean age 518.6
years, SD52.3).
Reliability
Internal Consistency
The Cronbach alpha coefficient was found to be .85 for both the developmental and validation samples. For
the additional validation sample, the alpha coefficient was found to be .87 ( Spreng et al., 2009 ).
Test/C0Retest
For the subsample of 65 students who completed the TEQ again after a mean interval of 66 days, the stability
coefficient was .81 ( Spreng et al., 2009 ).
Validity
Convergent/Concurrent
The TEQ correlated positively with IRI Empathic Concern ( r5.74) and also after reworded Empathic Concern
items were removed ( r5.71). Total TEQ scores also correlated positively with IRI Perspective Taking ( r5.35).
TEQ scores correlated positively with IRI Empathic Concern ( r5.74), with Perspective Taking ( r5.29), and
Fantasy ( r5.52). TEQ scores also correlated positively with EQ scores ( r5.80) ( Spreng et al., 2009 ).
Divergent/Discriminant
Scores on the TEQ correlated with a behavioral measure of social comprehension (Reading the Mind in the
Eyes Test-Revised: r5.35, Interpersonal Perception Task-15: r5.23) in a sample of 79 undergraduates ( Spreng
et al., 2009 ). In a sample of 200 students, a negative correlation was observed with the Autism Quotient
(r52.30). Males and females did not differ significantly in total TEQ scores in the first sample, although in the
second sample, females scored significantly higher than males.
Construct/Factor Analytic
An iterative maximum-likelihood factor analysis with SMCs as initial communality estimates was undertaken
on the item intercorrelations ( N5200). Spreng et al. (2009) then conducted a further exploratory factor analysis
on the intercorrelations of the final 16 items of the TEQ forcing a single-factor structure.269 OVERVIEW OF THE MEASURES
III. EMOTION REGULATION