Toronto Empathy Questionnaire [TEQ-16]

Questionnaire Description

The Toronto Empathy Questionnaire (TEQ-16) is a brief, 16-item self-report instrument developed to assess empathy in adults. It focuses primarily on the emotional dimension of empathy—that is, an individual’s capacity to respond appropriately to other people’s emotional experiences.

The questionnaire evaluates tendencies such as:

• Emotional responsiveness to other people’s feelings.
• Compassion and concern for individuals experiencing distress.
• Sensitivity to changes in another person’s emotional state.
• The ability to understand emotional cues during interpersonal interactions.
• Willingness to provide emotional support.

The TEQ is generally regarded as measuring a single overall dimension of empathy rather than separate cognitive and emotional subscales.

Purpose

The principal purpose of the TEQ-16 is to provide a brief and reliable assessment of individual differences in empathy. It may be used to:

• Assess empathy in research, educational, occupational, and healthcare settings.
• Compare empathy levels across different groups or populations.
• Examine associations between empathy and psychological or social variables.
• Evaluate changes in empathy following educational or psychosocial interventions.
• Investigate the role of empathy in interpersonal relationships and prosocial behaviour.

The TEQ is a psychometric assessment instrument and should not be used independently as a diagnostic tool.

Administration and Scoring

The questionnaire consists of 16 statements. Respondents indicate how frequently each statement applies to them using a five-point Likert scale:

Response	Score
Never	0
Rarely	1
Sometimes	2
Often	3
Always	4

Items 1, 3, 5, 6, 8, 9, 13, and 16 are scored directly.

Items 2, 4, 7, 10, 11, 12, 14, and 15 are reverse-scored:

Original response score	Reverse score
0	4
1	3
2	2
3	1
4	0

The item scores are summed to produce a total score ranging from 0 to 64. Higher scores indicate a stronger self-reported tendency toward empathic emotional responding.

The original instrument does not establish universal clinical cut-off scores. Results should therefore be interpreted in relation to the characteristics of the sample, the research design, and appropriate normative or comparative data.

Data Analysis and Use

Data collected through the TEQ-16 may be analysed using:

• Descriptive statistics: Means, standard deviations, score ranges, and response distributions.
• Reliability analysis: Internal consistency may be examined using Cronbach’s alpha or McDonald’s omega.
• Item analysis: Examination of item–total correlations and the contribution of each item to the overall scale.
• Factor analysis: Exploratory or confirmatory factor analysis may be used to evaluate the proposed unidimensional structure.
• Correlational analysis: Investigation of relationships between empathy and variables such as prosocial behaviour, emotional intelligence, psychological well-being, communication, or social functioning.
• Comparative analysis: Comparison of scores across demographic, educational, professional, or clinical groups.
• Longitudinal analysis: Assessment of changes in empathy over time or following an intervention.

Psychometric Evaluation

The original validation study reported satisfactory internal consistency and evidence supporting a predominantly single-factor structure. Psychometric evaluation in a new population should include:

• Internal-consistency reliability.
• Test–retest reliability, where repeated measurements are available.
• Construct validity through associations with related measures.
• Convergent and discriminant validity.
• Confirmatory factor analysis.
• Measurement invariance across relevant groups.
• Cross-validation in independent samples.

When the questionnaire is translated or culturally adapted, a structured process involving forward translation, back-translation, expert review, pilot testing, and psychometric re-evaluation is recommended.

Interpretation and Limitations

The TEQ measures self-reported empathy and may therefore be influenced by social desirability, self-awareness, response style, and the respondent’s interpretation of the items.

A high score indicates a stronger tendency to report empathic emotional responses, but it does not necessarily demonstrate empathic behaviour in real-life situations. For comprehensive assessment, TEQ results may be combined with behavioural observations, informant reports, interviews, or other validated empathy measures.

Caution is required when comparing scores obtained from different linguistic or cultural versions unless measurement equivalence has been established.

References

Davis, M. H. (1983). Measuring individual differences in empathy: Evidence for a multidimensional approach. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 44(1), 113–126.

Levenson, R. W., & Ruef, A. M. (1992). Empathy: A physiological substrate. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 63(2), 234–246.

Spreng, R. N., McKinnon, M. C., Mar, R. A., & Levine, B. (2009). The Toronto Empathy Questionnaire: Scale development and initial validation of a factor-analytic solution to multiple empathy measures. Journal of Personality Assessment, 91(1), 62–71.