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Scale of Empathic Tendencies Development3

Scale of Empathic Tendencies Development Test

With 36 questions and an estimated completion time of 7 minutes, the Scale of Empathic Tendencies Development Test examines emotional responsiveness across relationships with people, fictional characters, children, older adults, animals, and parents. Your profile can support self-reflection on compassion, understanding, and attentiveness in different social situations.

Questions: 367 minutes

Scale of Empathic Tendencies: situation and reply bubbles

October 2, 2025October 2, 2025Material has been updatedOctober 2, 2025Material has been published

22,725 views

2,247 completions

1,961 likes

Daniel Hall Psychologist · Test reviewer

1,961 likes

Scale Explorer

How the Scales are Structured

In Interpersonal RelationshipsIIR

Measures empathy shown in interpersonal communication, including noticing, understanding, and considering others’ emotions.

example score8/15

8/15Moderateexample score

0 – 5Lower

6 – 10Moderate

11 – 15Higher

A score of 8 falls in the Moderate range, suggesting a generally adequate ability to take others’ feelings into account during communication, with room to strengthen consistency or depth.

With Fictional CharactersWFC

Measures the tendency to empathically engage with characters in fiction through imagination and emotional involvement.

example score12/15

12/15Highexample score

0 – 5Low

6 – 10Moderate

11 – 15High

A score of 12 falls in the High range, suggesting strong imaginative immersion and emotional attunement to literary and cinematic characters.

With ChildrenWC

Assesses the tendency to empathize with and understand children's emotional states in interactions with them.

example score7/15

7/15Moderateexample score

0 – 5Lower

6 – 10Moderate

11 – 15Higher

A score of 7 falls in the Moderate range, suggesting a situationally expressed ability to recognize and share children's feelings that may vary by context.

Toward Older AdultsTOA

Measures how readily a person empathizes with and responds to the feelings and needs of elderly people.

example score6/15

6/15Moderate empathyexample score

0 – 5Lower empathy

6 – 10Moderate empathy

11 – 15Higher empathy

A score of 6 suggests a moderate tendency to notice and emotionally relate to elderly people’s experiences, with room to strengthen consistency and depth of empathic response.

Toward AnimalsTA

Assesses the tendency to empathize with and care about the emotional states and well-being of animals.

example score2/15

2/15Lowexample score

0 – 5Low

6 – 10Moderate

11 – 15High

A score of 2 falls in the Low range, suggesting a relatively limited tendency to emotionally resonate with animals or prioritize their feelings.

With ParentsWP

Measures the tendency to empathize with and understand parents' emotional states in family relationships.

example score7/15

7/15Moderateexample score

0 – 5Low

6 – 10Moderate

11 – 15High

A score of 7 falls in the Moderate range, suggesting a generally present but not consistently strong capacity to attune to and share parents’ feelings.

Empathic Tendencies DevelopmentETD

Assesses the tendency to perceive others’ emotions and engage in empathic understanding during interpersonal interactions.

example score66/90

66/90Highexample score

0 – 36Low

37 – 62Typical

63 – 90High

A score of 66 falls in the High range, suggesting a pronounced tendency to notice and resonate with others’ emotional states in social situations.

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DATA-BASED USER COHORTS

Who Usually Takes This Test?

Helping professionals

41%OF USERS

Counselors, teachers, coaches, and healthcare workers take it to gauge how well they tune into others’ feelings and where they may need to improve.

Team and HR leaders

33%OF USERS

Managers and HR specialists use it to understand interpersonal dynamics in teams and identify who may need support in communication and perspective-taking.

Self-development seekers

26%OF USERS

People focused on personal growth take it to check their baseline empathy and learn what helps them connect more deeply in relationships.

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.

Shaded area — where most people score

Dot — the average

You — your score lands on each curve after the test— your score, after the test

in interpersonal relationshipsiir

You?

Average10.5

Typical rangeTypical8.3 – 12.7

Possible0 – 15

with characters from literary workswcflw

You?

Average8.7

Typical rangeTypical6 – 11.5

Possible0 – 15

with childrenwc

You?

Average8.7

Typical rangeTypical6.2 – 11.1

Possible0 – 15

with elderly peoplewep

You?

Average8.1

Typical rangeTypical5.6 – 10.7

Possible0 – 15

with animalswa

You?

Average10.9

Typical rangeTypical8.7 – 13

Possible0 – 15

with parentswp

You?

Average10.8

Typical rangeTypical8.4 – 13.3

Possible0 – 15

Scale of Empathic Tendencies DevelopmentSoETD

You?

Average64.6

Typical rangeTypical49.2 – 80

Possible0 – 90

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SAMPLE QUESTIONS

Example Questions From the Test

Please rate the following statements. There are no right or wrong answers; therefore, please respond as honestly as possible. Do not spend too much time thinking about each statement. The most accurate responses are those that come to mind first.

- Not sure
- No, never
- Sometimes
- Often
- Almost always
- Yes, always
- I don't know
- No, never
- Sometimes
- Often
- Almost always
- Yes, always
- I don't know
- No, never
- Sometimes
- Often
- Almost always
- Yes, always

These are 3 of the 36 real questions — the rest appear in the test. No sign-up needed to start.

WHAT THE TEST MEASURES

Scale of Empathic Tendencies Development Test - Description and methodology of the test

empathy

People who want to examine how empathic responsiveness varies across social, family, imaginative, and caregiving situations can use the Scale of Empathic Tendencies Development Test. This empathy test is intended for self-reflection by anyone curious about emotional responsiveness. The profile highlights whether understanding another person's feelings, imaginative involvement, or compassionate attention feels more available in different contexts, giving the reader a focused starting point for reflection.

What This Assessment Explores

Empathy varies. This empathy assessment compares people, animals, and fictional characters across seven areas:

In Interpersonal Relationships (0-15) measures empathic consideration: Lower 0-5; Moderate 6-10; Higher 11-15.
With Fictional Characters (0-15) measures imaginative emotional involvement: Low 0-5; Moderate 6-10; High 11-15.
With Children (0-15) measures concern for children: Lower 0-5; Moderate 6-10; Higher 11-15.
Toward Older Adults (0-15) measures sensitivity, attentiveness to feelings: Lower empathy 0-5; Moderate empathy 6-10; Higher empathy 11-15.
Toward Animals (0-15) measures compassion: Low 0-5; Moderate 6-10; High 11-15.
With Parents (0-15) measures understanding and compassion: Low 0-5; Moderate 6-10; High 11-15.
Empathic Tendencies Development (0-90) measures sharing and understanding others' emotions: Low 0-36; Typical 37-62; High 63-90.

Methodology and Scientific Basis

Each statement uses six ordered response choices, moving from uncertainty to affirmation. Items address distress, conflict, criticism, caregiving, stories, films, and feelings of parents, children, older adults, and animals. Together, they sample emotional resonance and practical attentiveness, while some statements ask about beliefs or actions.

Responses combine into six contextual results and one overall result. Higher values indicate stronger empathic responsiveness as defined by the relevant scale; comparing the profile can show relative strength between domains. Because the questionnaire assesses empathic tendencies, its profile is more useful for noticing patterns within one respondent than for ranking people.

Methodologically, this empathy questionnaire is conceptually consistent with Yusupov’s 36-item empathy methodology, which is a reference for its empathy-focused structure rather than its scoring or norms; this questionnaire is not presented as a documented adaptation.

Interpretation is strongest when contextual scores are read together, since one domain does not describe the whole profile. The displayed bands organise scores descriptively rather than establish population norms or clinical thresholds for this online version, while mood, self-awareness, memory, and socially desirable responding may affect self-report results.

Author: Mark H. Davis

Literature:

Yusupov, Ildar Masgudovich. Psychology of Empathy: Theoretical and Applied Aspects: Doctoral Dissertation in Psychology. Saint Petersburg, 1995, 252 pp.
Pashukova, T. I., A. I. Dopira, and G. V. Dyakonov, compilers. Psychological Research: A Workshop in General Psychology for Students of Pedagogical Universities. Moscow, 1996.
Rudykina, Anastasiia Aleksandrovna, Galina Sergeevna Ostapenko, and Roman Ivanovich Ostapenko. Experimental Research of Empathic Abilities of Medical College Students-Future Nurses. Perspectives of Science and Education, 2014, no. 3(9), pp. 76-83.
Suroedova, Elena, Dmitry Popov, and Marina Belousova. Features of Empathy among Students of the Direction "Ecology and Nature Management" with Different Mathematical Abilities and Strategies for Conveying Meaning. E3S Web of Conferences, vol. 363, article 04034, 2022. 10.1051/e3sconf/202236304034.

Updated: 2025-10-02