The Perth Empathy Scale

This questionnaire asks about how easily you recognise and experience the emotions of others.

Please
score the following statements using the scale provided. Circle one answer for each statement.
Almost About half Most of Almost
Sometimes
never the time the time always

Just by seeing or hearing someone, I know if they

1 1 2 3 4 5
are feeling sad.
When I see or hear someone who is sad, it makes
2 1 2 3 4 5
me feel sad too.
3 1 2 3 4 5
are feeling happy.
When I see or hear someone who is happy, it
4 1 2 3 4 5
makes me feel happy too.
5 1 2 3 4 5
are feeling angry.
When I see or hear someone who is angry, it
6 1 2 3 4 5
makes me feel angry too.
7 1 2 3 4 5
are feeling amused.
When I see or hear someone who is amused, it
8 1 2 3 4 5
makes me feel amused too.
9 1 2 3 4 5
are feeling scared.
When I see or hear someone who is scared, it
10 1 2 3 4 5
makes me feel scared too.
11 1 2 3 4 5
are feeling calm.
When I see or hear someone who is calm, it
12 1 2 3 4 5
makes me feel calm too.
13 1 2 3 4 5
are feeling disgusted.
When I see or hear someone who is disgusted, it
14 1 2 3 4 5
makes me feel disgusted too.
15 1 2 3 4 5
are feeling enthusiastic.
When I see or hear someone who is enthusiastic,
16 1 2 3 4 5
it makes me feel enthusiastic too.
17 1 2 3 4 5
are feeling embarrassed.
When I see or hear someone who is
18 1 2 3 4 5
embarrassed, it makes me feel embarrassed too.
19 1 2 3 4 5
are feeling proud.
When I see or hear someone who is proud, it

20 1 2 3 4 5
makes me feel proud too.
Perth Empathy Scale (PES) Scoring Instructions
Empathy is a multidimensional construct comprised of two components: cognitive empathy and affective
empathy. Cognitive empathy refers to the ability to infer and recognise the emotions of others, while
affective empathy refers to the ability to experience others’ emotions vicariously. In other words, people
with high levels of empathy can easily recognise the emotions of others and experience that emotion.
The PES (Brett et al., in press) is a 20-item self-report measure of empathy. It is designed to assess both the
cognitive and affective components of empathy and across negative and positive emotions. Four subscale
scores and three composite scores can be derived from the measure, with higher scores indicating higher
levels of empathy. A total score (overall empathy ability) can be used by adding up all the items. For more
information about the development and psychometric properties of the PES, see Brett et al., (in press).
The table below describes each of the PES subscale and composite scores and how to calculate them.
Subscale/composite How to calculate Content measured

scores
Subscale scores
Negative-Cognitive empathy Sum items 1, 5, 9, 13, 17 Ability to recognise others’ negative emotions.
(NCE)
Positive-Cognitive empathy Sum items 3, 7, 11, 15, 19 Ability to recognise others’ positive emotions.
(PCE)
Negative-Affective empathy Sum items 2, 6, 10, 14, 18 Ability to share others’ negative emotions.
(NAE)
Positive-Affective empathy Sum items 4, 8, 12, 16, 20 Ability to share others’ positive emotions.
(PAE)
Composite scores
General-Cognitive empathy Sum NCE and PCE subscales Ability to recognise others’ emotions (negative and
(CE) positive).
General-Affective empathy Sum NAE and PAE subscales Ability to share others’ emotions (negative and
(AE) positive).
Empathy (total scale score) Sum all items Overall empathy; ability to recognise and share
others’ emotions (negative and positive).
Total Sample (N=638) Females (N=451) Males (N=187)
Subscale/ Cronbach’s
M SD M SD M SD
Composite alpha
Subscales
N-CE 19.1 3.83 .87 19.2 3.76 18.6 3.98
P-CE 19.1 3.55 .85 19.2 3.59 18.9 3.45
N-AE 12.0 3.67 .73 12.4 3.71 11.1 3.39
P-AE 15.9 3.98 .77 16.1 3.94 15.4 4.04
Composites
G-CE 38.2 7.09 .92 38.4 7.06 37.6 7.14
G-AE 27.9 6.48 .80 28.5 6.55 26.6 6.12
Empathy (total) 66.1 11.2 .88 66.9 11.3 64.1 10.9
PES Descriptive Statistics
Some descriptive statistics and Cronbach’s alpha reliability coefficients from an Australian adult general community
and university sample (N = 638; Brett et al., in press) are provided in the table below.
Score Interpretations
To interpret PES scores we recommend that a respondent’s score be compared to scores from an appropriate
normative sample. Empathy is a dimensional (rather than categorical) construct that is normally distributed in the
general population, so empathy scores are best thought of as existing on a continuum. Everyone has some level of
empathy, whether that be a low, average, or high level. The number of standard deviations (SDs) a respondent’s score
is from the mean of an appropriate normative sample indicates the degree of empathy. We interpret PES scores in
the following way, keeping in mind that higher scores indicate a higher level of empathy:
● Scores 1SD or more above the mean = “high level of empathy”

● Scores less than 1SD from the mean = “average level of empathy”
● Scores 1SD or more below the mean = “low level of empathy”
Contacts
If you have any questions or comments about the PES, or would like to collaborate with us on some research, please
feel free to contact us: Jack Brett ([email protected]), Associate Professor Rodrigo Becerra
([email protected]), Professor Murray Maybery ([email protected]), Dr David Preece
([email protected]).
References
Brett, J. D., Becerra, R., Maybery, M. T., & Preece, D. A. (in press). The psychometric assessment of empathy:
Development and validation of the Perth Empathy Scale. Assessment.

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This questionnaire asks about how easily you recognise and experience the emotions of others.

Just by seeing or hearing someone, I know if they

When I see or hear someone who is proud, it

Subscale/composite How to calculate Content measured

● Scores 1SD or more above the mean = “high level of empathy”

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