Empathy and Autism: Establishing the Structure and Different Manifestations of Empathy in Autistic Individuals Using the Perth Empathy Scale

Summary & key facts

This study tested a new 20-item questionnaire, the Perth Empathy Scale (PES), in 239 autistic and 690 non-autistic adults. The PES measures cognitive empathy (recognising others’ emotions) and affective empathy (feeling the same emotion) for positive and negative emotions. The scale worked well in both groups. On average, autistic participants reported lower cognitive empathy and lower affective empathy for both positive and negative emotions, but the autistic group showed much more variation in empathy scores, meaning averages may not describe every autistic person.

Key facts:

• Sample sizes: 239 autistic adults and 690 non-autistic adults took part in the study.
• The Perth Empathy Scale (PES) is a 20-item self-report questionnaire that asks about recognising others’ emotions (cognitive empathy) and whether others’ emotions make the respondent feel the same way (affective empathy).
• Statistical analyses (moderated non-linear factor analysis) found the overall empathy structure was similar in autistic and non-autistic groups, and the PES showed good validity and reliability in both groups.
• Compared to non-autistic participants, autistic participants reported lower cognitive empathy on average, and lower affective empathy for both positive and negative emotions.
• The autistic group showed greater heterogeneity (larger variability) in empathy tendencies, indicating that mean differences may not apply to all autistic individuals.

Topics

Autism Spectrum Disorder Research Child Development and Digital Technology Genetics and Neurodevelopmental Disorders

Categories

Cognitive Neuroscience Life Sciences Neuroscience

Tags

Autism Clinical psychology Cognition Computer science Construct (python library) Developmental psychology Empathy Programming language Psychiatry Psychology