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Jefferson Scale of Empathy (JSE)3

Jefferson Scale of Empathy (JSE) Test

Understand healthcare empathy and perspective taking in 4 minutes. Twenty items deliver clear, actionable insight for training, team development, and patient centered care.

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Questions: 204 minutes

08:30

October 2, 2025

October 2, 2025
Material has been updated

October 2, 2025
Material has been published

29,168 views

3,326 completions

2,504 likes

Verified by Daniel Hall

Psychologist with 25 years of experience

Scale Explorer

How the Scales are Structured

example score

6/14

In the Patient's Role (ItPR)

Measures the ability to adopt the patient’s perspective and understand their experiences in a healthcare context.

Limited perspective-taking

Developing perspective-taking

Strong perspective-taking

2 – 6: Limited perspective-taking | 7 – 10: Developing perspective-taking | 11 – 14: Strong perspective-taking

A score of 6 falls in the Limited perspective-taking range, suggesting the person may less consistently place themselves in the patient’s position when interpreting patient experiences.

example score

21/56

Compassionate Care (CC)

Measures willingness to show concern and compassion toward patients as an emotional component of empathy in healthcare interactions.

Lower compassionate care

Moderate compassionate care

Higher compassionate care

8 – 24: Lower compassionate care | 25 – 40: Moderate compassionate care | 41 – 56: Higher compassionate care

A score of 21 falls in the Lower compassionate care range, indicating a relatively reduced tendency to express compassionate concern for patients compared with higher scores on this scale.

example score

36/70

Assuming Responsibility (AR)

Measures readiness to take professional responsibility for a patient’s treatment and care as part of empathic practice in healthcare.

Lower responsibility

Moderate responsibility

High responsibility

10 – 29: Lower responsibility | 30 – 49: Moderate responsibility | 50 – 70: High responsibility

A score of 36 falls in the Moderate responsibility range, suggesting a generally present but inconsistently expressed tendency to take ownership of patient care and follow-through.

example score

70/140

Overall Empathy Index (OEI)

Measures the overall level of empathy in healthcare contexts, integrating understanding of patients’ experiences and compassionate responsiveness.

Lower empathy

Moderate empathy

Higher empathy

20 – 79: Lower empathy | 80 – 109: Moderate empathy | 110 – 140: Higher empathy

A score of 70 falls in the Lower empathy range, suggesting relatively limited overall empathic capacity compared with higher-scoring respondents in healthcare settings.

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DATA-BASED USER COHORTS

Who Usually Takes This Test?

Medical students and residents

41%OF USERS

They take it to understand their bedside manner early and spot empathy skills to strengthen during training.

Practicing doctors and nurses

35%OF USERS

They use it to check how well they understand patients’ experiences and improve communication in daily care.

Healthcare psychologists and trainers

24%OF USERS

They administer it to assess empathy in staff groups and tailor coaching or support programs.

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.

In the role of the patient (Itrotp)

Average

6.9

Normal range

4.7 — 9.2

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.

Compassionate Care (CC)

Average

20.6

Normal range

12.5 — 28.7

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.

Taking Responsibility (TR)

Average

Normal range

27 — 43

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.

Overall Empathy Index (OEI)

Average

69.1

Normal range

53.8 — 84.3

min.

max.

140

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.

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SAMPLE QUESTIONS

Example Questions From the Test

Please select the response that best reflects the extent to which you agree or disagree with the statements below. Do not spend too much time considering any one statement. Work as quickly and as accurately as possible. There are no right or wrong answers. For each statement, select only one response.

- Strongly disagree
- Disagree
- Somewhat disagree
- Neither agree nor disagree
- Somewhat agree
- Agree
- Strongly agree
- Strongly disagree
- Disagree
- Somewhat disagree
- Neutral
- Somewhat agree
- Agree
- Strongly agree
- Strongly disagree
- Disagree
- Somewhat disagree
- Neither agree nor disagree
- Somewhat agree
- Agree
- Strongly agree

These are 3 of the 20 real questions — the rest appear in the test. No sign-up needed to start.

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WHAT THE TEST MEASURES

About This Assessment

Jefferson Scale of Empathy (JSE) Test - Symptoms and Signs

empathy

medical staff

In clinical and training settings, it is often useful to characterize empathic orientation in health care interactions. The Jefferson Scale of Empathy (JSE) is a brief self-report measure designed to assess empathy as a predominantly cognitive attribute relevant to patient care.

The instrument focuses on understanding a patient’s experiences and perspectives and maintaining a helping intention while preserving appropriate professional boundaries. It contains 20 items and typically requires about 4 minutes to complete. The measure was developed by Mohammadreza Hojat.

Scores from the Jefferson Scale of Empathy (JSE) may be used to support educational feedback, program evaluation, and research on clinician-patient communication, and should be interpreted in conjunction with other clinical, training, or organizational information.

Author: Mohammadreza Hojat

Literature: Davis, M. H. Measuring individual differences in empathy: Evidence for a multidimensional approach. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. 1983.; Hojat, M., Mangione, S., Nasca, T. J., Cohen, M. J. M., Gonnella, J. S., Erdmann, J. B., Veloski, J. J., & Magee, M. The Jefferson Scale of Physician Empathy: Development and preliminary psychometric data. Educational and Psychological Measurement. 2001.