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Empathy Quotient Test (EQ)

Measure your ability to understand and share feelings.

Instructions: Indicate how strongly you agree or disagree with each statement. There are no right or wrong answers.
1. I can easily tell if someone else wants to enter a conversation.
2. I find it hard to know what to do in a social situation.
3. I am good at predicting how someone will feel.
4. I am quick to spot when someone in a group is feeling awkward or uncomfortable.
5. I find it hard to predict what someone will do.
6. I can pick up quickly if someone says one thing but means another.
7. It is hard for me to see why some things upset people so much.
8. I can easily tell if someone else is interested or bored with what I am saying.
9. Friends usually talk to me about their problems as they say that I am very understanding.
10. I can sense if I am intruding, even if the other person doesn't tell me.
11. I can usually appreciate the other person's viewpoint, even if I don't agree with it.
12. I find it easy to put myself in somebody else's shoes.
13. I am good at predicting what someone will feel.
14. I am quick to spot when someone in a group is feeling awkward.
15. Other people tell me I am good at understanding how they are feeling.
16. I can easily work out what another person might want to talk about.
17. I can tell if someone is masking their true emotion.
18. I am good at reading between the lines when someone is talking to me.
19. I tend to get emotionally involved with a friend's problems.
20. I can usually understand why someone feels the way they do.
21. Seeing people cry doesn't really upset me.
22. I can't always tell when someone is embarrassed.

What is the Empathy Quotient?

The Empathy Quotient (EQ) was developed by Simon Baron-Cohen and Sally Wheelwright at the Autism Research Centre, Cambridge. It measures both cognitive empathy (understanding what others think) and affective empathy (feeling what others feel). It's widely used in research, including studies on the autism spectrum.

Two Types of Empathy

Cognitive Empathy

The ability to understand what another person is thinking or feeling. This is sometimes called "Theory of Mind" or "mentalizing." It's about perspective-taking.

Affective Empathy

The ability to feel an appropriate emotional response to another person's emotions. It's about emotional contagion and resonance—feeling *with* someone.

Empathy vs. Emotional Intelligence

Empathy is a core component of Emotional Intelligence (EI), but EI is broader. EI also includes self-awareness, self-regulation, and social skills. A person can have high empathy but still struggle with managing their own emotions, or vice versa.

Can Empathy Be Improved?

  • Read Fiction: Studies show reading literary fiction improves Theory of Mind.
  • Active Listening: Practice focusing entirely on the speaker without planning your response.
  • Role-Playing: Deliberately try to imagine perspectives different from your own.
Disclaimer: This is an abbreviated version of the EQ scale for educational purposes. Lower scores do not indicate a disorder. Empathy varies widely in the general population. This test is not a diagnostic tool.
Population Norms

Average score is around 22-28 out of 44. Women tend to score slightly higher than men on average.

Related Tools
Emotional Intelligence (EQ) Attachment Style
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Empathy and Social Cognition Research: