How much empathy do you have? - a professional psychological test - The Empathy Quotient (EQ)

[Douglas Carpenter]

Last edited Mon Jul 21, 2014, 02:43 AM - Edit history (3)

NOTE: You do NOT have to sign up on the site to take this test. You only have to answer your age group, your sex and whether or not you have or are suspected of having an Autism Spectrum Disorder. After answering those questions you can skip the rest and go straight to the test.

http://aspietests.org/eq/index.php

Usage - From the Oxford Dictionary

People often confuse the words empathy and sympathy. Empathy means ‘the ability to understand and share the feelings of another’ (as in ‘both authors have the skill to make you feel empathy with their heroines’), whereas sympathy means ‘feelings of pity and sorrow for someone else’s misfortune’ (as in ‘they had great sympathy for the flood victims’).

http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/empathy

Here is another interesting test that measures one's empathy level. It should be noted that a person can be compassionate, sympathetic and quite willing to help others - but not necessarily very empathetic which requires an ability to spontaneously and intuitively understand what and how someone else is thinking and feeling.

http://aspietests.org/eq/index.php

[hollysmom]

1. Sorry, test wanted information I stopped taking it.

But I did have an empathic dog,if that helps. She knew when people were sad (mostly me) and would put her paw on the knee and look into the eyes and some how take the pain away. I ca't explain it, but I had to loan her to friends and family a lot because she just took the pain away. I know that there was a period of time when I hardly saw her and I had to fight people to get her back, no one wanted to let her go, she was so calm, so obedient and not much of a problem. My mother kept her for so long after my father died, she was on an almost permanent diet until she died. People tried to pay her back with food instead of walks or play.

[Douglas Carpenter]

2. Sorry, but I just cannot understand your point of view at all on this

(That's a joke by the way)

Actually to take the test - the program only requires - your age group and your sex and whether or not you have been diagnosed or suspected of having an Autistic Spectrum Disorder - You don't actually need to put in your E-mail address or any other information in order to take the test.

[hollysmom]

3. thanks, Honestly I think I was born without the gene that tells me when someone is joking

I didn't get past the sign in, it needed cookies, I rarely do cookies. - this could be a sign of mental illness on my part, but I have always been concerned about this - you miss a lot on the net when you don't take cookies.

[whistler162]

4. Love cookies.....

especially Oatmeal Raisin or Tollhouse with a nice cold glass of milk.

What turned me off was the These Test Results Maybe Used.......

Might even go in and totally mess with the questions.

[ZombieHorde]

5. I took the test, but some of the questions were strange to me.

Such as the question about breaking laws.

My final score was 46.

Test taken by you on 20 July 2014 46.0

The average score for males with ASD (131 people took this test) 23.4
The average score for females with ASD (143 people took this test) 21.9
The average score for males with suspected ASD (909 people took this test) 20.0
The average score for females with suspected ASD (1486 people took this test) 23.7
The average score for male neurotypicals (350 people took this test) 35.8
The average score for female neurotypicals (542 people took this test) 41.6

http://aspietests.org/eq/questions.php?show=d53bf4e535932&locale=en_GB

I don't know what my score of 46 means.

[Douglas Carpenter]

6. the higher the score - the more empathetic - The term neurotypical

refers to people who neither have nor are suspected of having an Autism Spectrum Disorder - A score of 46 indicates that you are more empathetic than most people.

Again, for those who score on the low range - lacking empathy in this context does not mean that they necessarily lack compassion or sympathy - They just may be neurologically wired in such a way that they just cannot understand as well as most people how other people think or feel - That does not necessarily mean they are uncaring. It means their ability to spontaneously and naturally grasp the social world around them without having to carefully think about it is neurologically compromised.

[rug]

13. It means you're more empathetic than me you bastard!

Test taken by you on 21 July 2014 43.0

The average score for males with ASD (132 people took this test) 23.4
The average score for females with ASD (144 people took this test) 21.9
The average score for males with suspected ASD (909 people took this test) 20.0
The average score for females with suspected ASD (1488 people took this test) 23.7
The average score for male neurotypicals (358 people took this test) 35.8
The average score for female neurotypicals (560 people took this test) 41.7

It must've been the worm question.

[laundry_queen]

35. Questions like that,

I believe, are used to gauge if you take other people into account when you make a decision. For instance, someone who is lacking empathy is only worried about themselves when they break a law (typically) such as a sociopath deciding it's okay to do just a little bit of tax fraud for his company. Someone like that has problems understanding how their decisions to break a law impact others in a macro kind of way.

[dixiegrrrrl]

7. It would be helpful to point out that link requires signing up.

No one likes to click blindly and find they have to sign up to see a site.

[Douglas Carpenter]

15. actually you can skip the sign up and still take the test - the only part that is requried is

starting your age group, your sex and whether or not you have been diagnosed or suspected of having an Autism Spectrum Disorder - If you answer those questions - you can go direct to the test without any sign-up

[LiberalElite]

8. it keeps telling me

my username and password are incorrect

[MrScorpio]

9. Here we go...

Test taken by you on 20 July 2014 55.0

The average score for males with ASD (131 people took this test) 23.4
The average score for females with ASD (144 people took this test) 21.9
The average score for males with suspected ASD (909 people took this test) 20.0
The average score for females with suspected ASD (1486 people took this test) 23.7
The average score for male neurotypicals (352 people took this test) 35.8
The average score for female neurotypicals (549 people took this test) 41.6

[NJCher]

10. I didn't have to sign up

I scored a 71. No surprise to me. I can't even read the pet threads of people who have a sick cat and God forbid anything else.

It was an interesting profile, though. Thanks for posting it.


Cher

[IrishAyes]

11. I might not get around to taking the test - it's late - but

I haven't ever been told I had some degree of ASD. I have been described as a subconscious, partial, involuntary empath. It doesn't always work. Yet when I'm in public, if a stranger needs help, they often seek me out. I think it's because I present soft. Non-threatening, etc. Being a small female reinforces that. In NY and L.A., even people who didn't speak English would latch onto me when they had a problem. But I enjoyed helping.

My ex thought I could read his mind - honestly. I said no, I read your heart and that tells me what you're going to do or have done. But he still thought it was spooky.

[BlueJazz]

12. Mine was 69. I think I care too much about the future of earth.

[mackerel]

14. My score was 44, I'm guessing that's

on the low side?

[Douglas Carpenter]

16. actually that is quite high - more empathetic than most according to their figures

The average score for males with ASD (131 people took this test) 23.4
The average score for females with ASD (143 people took this test) 21.9
The average score for males with suspected ASD (909 people took this test) 20.0
The average score for females with suspected ASD (1486 people took this test) 23.7
The average score for male neurotypicals (350 people took this test) 35.8
The average score for female neurotypicals (542 people took this test) 41.6

ASD refers to those with either diagnosed or suspected of having an Autism Spectrum Disorder

Nuerotypicals refer to those who do not have or are not expected of having an Autism Spectrum Disorder


Again, I feel it is appropriate to point out that having an ASD and/or scoring low on the empathy test does not necessarily mean one is lacking in compassion or sympathy. It means that they are neurologically wired in such a way that they cannot spontaneously and naturally grasp how the world around them thinks without taking a good deal of time to think it over and analyze it. A crude example might be that when one reads about a little child committing a heinous crime like murder - a person may feel very sad for the child and wish there was some way they could help them - but the same person probably does not by any means understand how that child thinks and feels.

[caraher]

17. I got a 50

but it seems like DUers - or at least those who take it and post their scores! - skew high, as I think the average score for a "normal" person is maybe 35

[Douglas Carpenter]

24. I guess there are not a whole lot of DUers with Autism Spectrum Disorders

Or they are in the closet about it. Of course - that is a matter of how someone is bio-neurologically/genetically wired and it is not their fault and does not mean that they are not a compassionate person. They just lack a neurological ability to spontaneously sense how others think and feel. Life is like being born on the wrong planet:

http://www.wrongplanet.net/

[mackerel]

33. We had a thread about Aspergers the other day and I lot of DUers said they had it.

Aspergers is now considered part of ASD.

[Douglas Carpenter]

34. I guess it is more cool to contemplate having Aspergers than it is to contemplate lacking in

empathy - although lacking in empathy is one of the key components to Aspergers.

There is a reason why I keep repeating over and over again that neurologically lacking empathy does not mean one lacks sympathy or the ability to be compassionate. It simply means one is wired in such a way that they cannot easily or intuitively understand other people without a good deal of thinking things over and analyzing things very carefully. That doesn't mean that they don't have a heart.

Well if no one else wants to come out of the closet - I guess I will - not that it is anything to brag about. Just neurological reality:

I tried to answer the questions as honestly - but conservatively as possible

Score

Test taken by you on 22 July 2014 21.0

The average score for males with ASD (132 people took this test) 23.4
The average score for females with ASD (144 people took this test) 21.9
The average score for males with suspected ASD (914 people took this test) 20.0
The average score for females with suspected ASD (1497 people took this test) 23.8
The average score for male neurotypicals (389 people took this test) 36.2
The average score for female neurotypicals (607 people took this test) 42.4

[Petrushka]

18. Scored 51.0

[Sherman A1]

31. Same here

which based upon the averages they present is pretty high.

[Skittles]

19. I scored 53, but I read microexpressions

does that count as empathy?

[Orrex]

20. You're so in touch with amoebas and parameciums.

[Skittles]

26. OMG

I had to think about that for, er, just a few seconds

[Orrex]

28. I was afraid that you were going to KICK MY ASS!!!!

[magical thyme]

21. 66.

I guess I really am an empath. Move over Deanna Troi!

[Sweet Freedom]

22. 65 /nt

[Kaleva]

23. 31

[hamsterjill]

25. 57

Interesting...

I think I'm much more empathetic to animals than to humans.

[laundry_queen]

36. That was my score as well. nt

[mnhtnbb]

27. I scored 56

Hmmm...

[CaliforniaPeggy]

29. Here you go:

Score
Test taken by you on 21 July 2014---62.0

The average score for males with ASD (132 people took this test) 23.4

The average score for females with ASD (144 people took this test) 21.9

The average score for males with suspected ASD (911 people took this test) 20.0

The average score for females with suspected ASD (1494 people took this test) 23.8

The average score for male neurotypicals (381 people took this test) 36.1

The average score for female neurotypicals (580 people took this test) 42.1

[intaglio]

30. I'm weird

Test taken by you on 21 July 2014 61.0

The average score for males with ASD (132 people took this test) 23.4
The average score for females with ASD (144 people took this test) 21.9
The average score for males with suspected ASD (911 people took this test) 20.0
The average score for females with suspected ASD (1494 people took this test) 23.8
The average score for male neurotypicals (382 people took this test) 36.2
The average score for female neurotypicals (580 people took this test) 42.1

[Sienna86]

32. 68. Empathy have always served me well

Score
Test taken by you on 21 July 2014 68.0

The average score for males with ASD (132 people took this test) 23.4
The average score for females with ASD (144 people took this test) 21.9
The average score for males with suspected ASD (911 people took this test) 20.0
The average score for females with suspected ASD (1496 people took this test) 23.8
The average score for male neurotypicals (386 people took this test) 36.1
The average score for female neurotypicals (588 people took this test) 42.2

[La Lioness Priyanka]

37. i have an empathy problem (which i am aware of, its why i am a liberal)

Test taken by you on 22 July 2014 62.0

The average score for males with ASD (132 people took this test) 23.4
The average score for females with ASD (144 people took this test) 21.9
The average score for males with suspected ASD (916 people took this test) 20.0
The average score for females with suspected ASD (1498 people took this test) 23.8
The average score for male neurotypicals (391 people took this test) 36.1
The average score for female neurotypicals (611 people took this test) 42.5