Measuring Empathizing and Systemizing with a Large US Sample

James G. Scott,Daniel B. Wright,Elin M. Skagerberg

doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0031661

James G. Scott, Daniel B. Wright + Show 1 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0031661

Copy DOI

Abstract

A large number of people completed one of two versions of the empathizing quotient (EQ) and systemizing quotient (SQ). One version had the negatively phrased items all re-worded. These re-worded items were answered more rapidly than the original items, and for the SQ produced a more reliable scale. Subjects gave self-assessments of empathizing and systemizing, and these were moderately correlated, r≈.6, with their respective quotients. Females had on average higher empathizing scores and males had on average higher systemizing scores. If a female-male pair was chosen at random, the female would have the higher empathizing score about two-thirds of the time, and the males would have the higher systemizing score about two-thirds of the time.

Highlights

Empathizing is the ability to identify with other people’s thoughts and feelings and to be able to respond to these mental states with appropriate emotions [1]
We examine the results for the methodological research question on whether changing the negatively worded items to positively worded items affects the response times and reliability
For systemizing quotient (SQ), the t test reached the traditional level of significance, t(5164) = 2.10, p = .04, but the effect is small

Summary

Introduction

Empathizing is the ability to identify with other people’s thoughts and feelings and to be able to respond to these mental states with appropriate emotions [1]. Several authors have described how lack of empathy can produce anti-social behavior in some people [2]. Lack of empathy is one of the characteristics often used to define antisocial personality disorders [3]. There is discussion that difficulties with empathizing may be fundamental in autism [1]. During the past decade there has been much discussion, of empathizing, because of how empathetic processes that might build on collections of mirror neurons affect social cognition [e.g., 4,5]. This would predict that people with autism would have deficits with mirror neuron systems [6]. While many studies have found this [7], others have not [8]

Methods

Results

Conclusion