Toronto Empathy Questionnaire (TEQ)

The Toronto Empathy Questionnaire (TEQ) is a relatively brief self-assessment questionnaire measuring a person’s emotional ability to understand and respond to others. Thus, it was developed to assess the general factor of empathy, conceptualizing it as a primarily emotional process. It contains 16 statements, the frequency of which the respondent evaluates on a Likert scale.

Length of filling

It takes approximately 5-7 minutes to complete the questionnaire.

Individualized feedback for the respondent

After evaluating the questionnaire, the respondent learns his level of empathy.

Keywords

Toronto Empathy Questionnaire, TEQ, empathy, emotional process, empathy

Scoring and interpretation

To get a total score, you need to add up the points for each item. Items 2, 4, 7, 10, 11, 12, 14, and 15 are reverse scored. The total score ranges from 0-64, and higher scores indicate higher levels of empathy.

Response scale

Respondents record their answers on a five-point Likert scale ranging from “Never” (0) to “Always” (1).

References

Novak, L., Malinakova, K., Mikoska, P., van Dijk, J. P., Dechterenko, F., Ptacek, R., & Tavel, P. (2021). Psychometric Analysis of the Czech Version of the Toronto Empathy Questionnaire. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 18(10), 5343. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph18105343

Spreng, R. N., McKinnon, M. C., Mar, R. A., & Levine, B. (2009). The Toronto Empathy Questionnaire: scale development and initial validation of a factor-analytic solution to multiple empathy measures. Journal of personality assessment, 91(1), 62–71. https://doi.org/10.1080/00223890802484381

Ursoniu, S., Serban, C. L., Giurgi-Oncu, C., Rivis, I. A., Bucur, A., Bredicean, A. C., & Papava, I. (2021). Validation of the Romanian Version of the Toronto Empathy Questionnaire (TEQ) among Undergraduate Medical Students. International journal of environmental research and public health, 18(24), 12871. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph182412871

Xu, R. H., Wong, E. L., Lu, S. Y., Zhou, L. M., Chang, J. H., & Wang, D. (2020). Validation of the Toronto Empathy Questionnaire (TEQ) Among Medical Students in China: Analyses Using Three Psychometric Methods. Frontiers in psychology, 11, 810. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2020.00810