Basic Empathy Scale: A Systematic Review and Reliability Generalization Meta-Analysis
Javier Cabedo-Peris ,
Manuel Martí-Vilar
César Merino-Soto
Mafalda Ortiz-Morán
Abstract: The Basic Empathy Scale (BES) has been internationally used to measure empathy. A systematic review including 74 articles that implement the instrument since its development in 2006 was carried out. Moreover, an evidence validity analysis and a reliability generalization meta-analysis were performed to examine if the scale presented the appropriate values to justify its application.
Results from the systematic review showed that the use of the BES is increasing, although the research areas in which it is being implemented are currently being broadened. The validity analyses indicated that both the type of factor analysis and reliability are reported in validation studies much more than the consequences of testing are.
Basic Empathy Scale (BES),
"Jolliffe and Farrington (2006b) constructed and validated the Basic Empathy Scale (BES), a new scale for measuring empathic responsiveness in adolescence. Starting with a more inclusive and multidimensional definition of empathy, the scale assesses both emotional congruence (affective empathy) and the understanding of another person's emotion (cognitive empathy). An indication of the comprehensive nature of this definition of empathy is reflected in the fact that the BES measures empathic responsiveness to positive emotions, whereas previous questionnaires had mainly detected responsiveness to negative emotions.
Responsiveness to other people's positive emotions can represent a crucial aspect of empathy assessment during this developmental period. Specifically, the opportunity for adolescents to experience and share positive emotions (i.e. happiness, joy) with their peers plays a fundamental role in enhancing both their physical health and sense of well-being (Mahon et al., 2005; Natvig et al., 2003) and in creating further positive experiences and a strong desire to contribute to society (Magen, 2004).
This holistic view, that captures the full range of emotional responsiveness, has been identified as a significant gap in the literature and study of empathy. While this instrument has been validated for use only with adolescents, it holds promise for use with other populations. " ROBERT PAUL BUTTERS (2010)
"Lack of empathy is related to aggression, delinquency, and criminal offense recidivism. The present study examined construct validity and reliability of the German version of the Basic Empathy Scale (BES) in a sample of 94 detained German male juvenile offenders (aged 14–26). A confirmatory factor analysis with a two-factor model of affective and cognitive empathy showed a good fit to the data. "
http://hdl.handle.net/11245.1/5fd3789c-74c7-4d77-a757-3c605dfaf694
"Lack of empathy is related to aggression, delinquency, and criminal offense recidivism. The present study examined construct validity and reliability of the German version of the Basic Empathy Scale (BES) in a sample of 94 detained German male juvenile offenders (aged 14–26).
A confirmatory factor analysis with a two-factor model of affective and cognitive empathy showed a good fit to
the data. The factor structure of the original 20-item scale, however, could not be fully replicated in the German juvenile prison sample.
Therefore, the scale was reduced to 12 items. Cronbach’s alpha reliability coefficients were good for both affective and cognitive empathy. Concurrent validity of the BES was demonstrated only for cognitive empathy,which was significantly associated with callous unemotional traits. Although results are promising, a replication study is needed to test concurrent, convergent, divergent, and predictive validity of the German version of the BES as well as test–retest reliability."
"Basic empathy scale (BES) The BES was originally developed by Jolliffe and Farrington (2006), and assesses two components of empathy, cognitive and affective empathy. The original BES consists of 20 items, based on the four human basic emotions: anger, fear, sadness, and joy (Eckman, 2004), with answering categories ranging on a 5-point Likert scale from 1 = I don´t agree to 5 = I fully agree. In the present study, the validated English version (Jolliffe & Farrington, 2006) of the BES was translated into German. The adapted German version was then back-translated into English by two separate researchers (Table 1)."