Altruism Subscale Test

Learn how strongly someone is motivated to help others without expecting anything back in about 3 minutes. Get a clear snapshot for counseling, research, or team and volunteer selection.

Start Online Test

Questions: 143 minutes

08:30

October 2, 2025

October 2, 2025
Material has been updated

October 2, 2025
Material has been published

32,018 views

2,474 completions

2,008 likes

Verified by Daniel Hall

Psychologist with 25 years of experience

Scale Explorer

How the Scales are Structured

example score

40/70

Altruism (A)

Measures the strength of a person’s tendency toward selfless helping and prioritizing others’ needs over their own.

Lower altruism

Moderate altruism

Higher altruism

14 – 32: Lower altruism | 33 – 51: Moderate altruism | 52 – 70: Higher altruism

A score of 40 falls in the Moderate altruism range, suggesting a balanced inclination to help others without it being consistently strong or consistently low.

Start Online Test

just completed the test

DATA-BASED USER COHORTS

Who Usually Takes This Test?

Helpers and caregivers

41%OF USERS

People in caring roles take it to see whether they support others out of genuine concern or habit and obligation.

Psychology clients and coaches

34%OF USERS

Clients in counseling or coaching use it to understand their motives in relationships and how much they put others first.

Volunteer and team applicants

25%OF USERS

People joining volunteer projects or collaborative teams take it to gauge empathy and willingness to help without expecting rewards.

BASED ON AGGREGATED, ANONYMIZED DATA FROM TENS OF THOUSANDS OF FREUDLY USERS.

Benchmarking

See How You Compare

Once you complete the test, your results are compared with real-world data from people in your country.
Below is a preview of how scores are typically distributed across each scale.

Altruism Subscale (AS)

Average

46.7

Normal range

36.5 — 56.9

min.

max.

This curve shows how scores are typically distributed.
Once you complete the test, your result will appear on the scale so you can see how you compare.

Start Online Test

Featured On

SAMPLE QUESTIONS

Example Questions From the Test

Below are statements that may, to a greater or lesser extent, describe your feelings, thoughts, and behaviors toward other people. Please indicate the extent to which you agree with each statement.

- Strongly disagree
- Disagree
- Not sure
- Agree
- Strongly agree
- Strongly disagree
- Disagree
- Not sure
- Agree
- Strongly agree
- Strongly disagree
- Disagree
- Hard to say
- Agree
- Strongly agree

These are 3 of the 14 real questions — the rest appear in the test. No sign-up needed to start.

Start Online Test

WHAT THE TEST MEASURES

About This Assessment

Altruism Subscale Test - Symptoms and Signs

altruism

This brief self-report measure assesses dispositional tendencies toward helping others without expectation of personal gain. The Altruism Subscale is administered as a questionnaire designed to capture individual differences in altruistic orientation in interpersonal contexts.

The instrument includes 14 items and typically requires about 3 minutes to complete. Responses are commonly summarized as a total score, with higher scores reflecting greater endorsement of altruistic attitudes.

The Altruism Subscale may be used in clinical and counseling settings to inform case formulation around interpersonal motivations, and in research contexts examining social behavior and values. Results should be interpreted in conjunction with other clinical information and are not intended to serve as a standalone diagnostic indicator.

Author: C. Daniel Batson

Literature: Batson, C. D. The altruism question: Toward a social-psychological answer. Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. 1991.; Wrightsman, L. S. Measurement of philosophies of human nature. Psychological Reports. 1964.