The Scale of Ethnocultural Empathy: Development, Validation, and Reliability

The authors present 3 studies on the initial validity and reliability of the Scale of Ethnocultural Empathy (SEE), a self-report instrument that measures empathy toward people of racial and ethnic backgrounds different from one's own. Specifically, the exploratory factor analysis yielded 4 factors: Empathic Feeling and Expression, Empathic Perspective Taking, Acceptance of Cultural Differences, and Empathic Awareness. A confirmatory factor analysis provided evidence for the stability and generalizability of this 4-factor solution. The SEE was correlated in the predicted directions with general empathy and attitudes toward people's similarities and differences. High internal consistency and test-retest reliability estimates were also found across the three studies. A discussion of how this scale can add to the research and practice regarding empathy and multicultural issues is provided.