QAACEC

A Questionnaire to Assess Affective and Cognitive Empathy in Children

Carsten Zoll and Sibylle Enz

Uses questions from

  • Bryant’s Index of Empathy Measurement (1982)

  • Leibetseder’s E-Skala (2001)

  • Garton & Gringart’s (2005) IRI version

  • Eisenberg’s Child-Report Sympathy Scale (1996, 1998)

Cognitive Empathy

  • When I am angry or upset at someone, I usually try to imagine what he or she is thinking or feeling.

  • I can tell by looking at a person, whether they are happy.

  • I really like to watch people open presents, even when I don’t get a present myself.

  • When I am arguing with my friends about what we are going to do, I think carefully about what they are saying before I decide whose idea is best.

  • I can tell what mood my parents are in by the look on their faces.

  • I notice straight away when something makes my best friend unhappy.

  • I can often guess the ending of other people’s sentences because I know what they are about to say.

  • I often try to understand my friends better by seeing things from their point of view.

  • On the phone I can tell if the other person is happy or sad by the tone of their voice.

  • I often know the ending of movies or books before they have finished.

  • I think people can have different opinions on the same thing.

  • I can tell by the look on my parent's face whether it’s a good time to ask them for something.

Affective Empathy

  • It makes me sad to see a child who can’t find anyone to play with

  • Seeing a child who is crying makes me feel like crying

  • Sometimes I cry when I watch TV

  • It get upset when I see a child being hurt

  • Some songs make me so sad I feel like crying

  • When I see someone suffering, I feel bad too

  • When I walk by a needy person I feel like giving them something

  • It upsets me when another child is being shouted at

  • When my parents get upset I feel bad.

  • I get upset when I see an animal being hurt.