The Scale of Ethnocultural Empathy: Development, validation, and reliability.

Abstract

Summary and Overall Discussion The purpose of this study was to develop a scale to quantita-tively and effectively measure the construct of ethnocultural em-pathy. On the basis of a review of the literature, ethnoculturalempathy as a construct was derived from definitions of generalempathy, multiculturalism, and cultural empathy. Our effort tocreate a three-factor scale was partially supported by the results ofthe factor analysis. Although there are parallels between the in-tended definition of the three factors and the final results, the factoranalysis revealed the presence of a fourth factor. The factorscontributed to the amount of variance accounted for by the scale inthe following order, from strongest to weakest: Empathic Feelingand Expression, Empathic Perspective Taking, Acceptance of Cul-tural Differences, and Empathic Awareness. The four-factor solu-tion suggests that there are four distinct components underlyingscores on the SEE.The four factors of the SEE closely replicate the theoreticalconstructs of empathy found in the literature and bring new un-derstanding to the construct of ethnocultural empathy. Duan andHill (1996) suggested that the concept of general empathy consistsof two components: empathic emotions and intellectual empathy.The most comprehensive model of cross-cultural empathy, dis-cussed by Ridley and Lingle (1996), includes communicativeempathy in addition to the similar emotional and intellectualaspects. The four factors revealed in the present study not onlysupport the existence of the emotional, intellectual, and commu-nicative aspects of ethnocultural empathy but also suggested thatthe components of ethnocultural empathy may be more compli-cated than has been conceptualized in the existing literature (i.e.,there may be more than three components). For example, theintellectual aspect of ethnocultural empathy may encompass one’sperspective taking and awareness toward racial and ethnicdifferences.Table 5Univariate Analyses of Variance on Racial Differences in SEE Subscale Scores