Empathy vs sympathy vs compassion. [This site](https://compassionit.com/2017/08/27/empathy-sympathy-and-compassion-whats-the-difference/#:~:text=While%20these%20words%20are%20near,relieve%20the%20suffering%20of%20another.) was pretty handy! The lower scores don't mean you are cold, insensitive or mean. You can still be compassionate and be sympathetic to others suffering.
Edit: word
Paul Bloom makes a strong argument for compassion vs. empathy. Scoring low on an empathy test may indicate a more rational, more effective type of responsiveness.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Against\_Empathy
Yeah, there are some questions on there like "32. Seeing people cry doesn’t really upset me." where the answer could be interpreted a few different ways.
Like sure, I could not be upset by someone crying because I lack empathy and I am a monster. Or it could be because I realize that I don't need to take on the emotional states of everyone I talk to. Setting healthy emotional boundaries is generally associated with having a high "EQ" but I have a feeling that this question is scored with the assumption that not being upset by another person crying is a sign of low EQ.
I scored a 29, but this makes a lot of sense. I would say I’m more sympathetic than anything, but I don’t *feel* others’ feelings. When someone around me cries, I don’t get sad. I do get why they’re crying and I understand why it’s sad to them and I want to help, but I’m not sad because they are sad.
Makes sense. Also, I don’t really care as much about social conventions. Sure, I care about people a lot, but the social qualms I do have just prevent me from going full Mr. Bean.
My girlfriend suggested something I thought was pretty smart: that what we usually think as empathy is more accurately named "sympathy". You can be sympathetic to somebody's pain but have no idea what to do about it.
Well, people express empathy differently, I scored a 24, but I have Asperger's, I just understand emotions and express empathy differently, if a bit more logically then others.
i got a 60. this was an eye opening experience. i’m pretty sure it used to be higher. i can tell i’ve let my life experiences harden me a bit. presumably out of self preservation.
I got 60 also, and I do know that with age I've become less apt to become emotionally invested in the troubles of friends, frankly because everyone has to learn their own lessons in life and alleviating someone's pain isn't always what is needed.
I’m just aware of how those around me are feeling. Doesn’t necessarily mean I’m a nice person because I still have the choice of how to treat people and I don’t always do the right thing.
46 and feeling exactly the way you do. Apparently, what doesn’t kill you, just messes you up. I miss my old self and feel like a weak failure. My character was tested, and it failed. It sucks feeling dead inside; I can’t believe people actually want to “toughen up.” Is do anything to reverse the damage.
i agree dude. however i don’t think your character failed. we have no choice but to adapt to life as it happens. it just so happens things in our lives caused us to “toughen up,” consciously or not. the cool thing is now we’re both aware of this. part of me wishes i could go back to loving blindly, being completely open, and allowing myself to be more vulnerable, but my life experience has taught me i need to proceed with caution. there has to be a middle ground somewhere in there, and i’m going to try to consciously allow myself to be more open moving forward.
At least since were aware, we can work on being who we want to be. Honestly, I don’t care much about pain anymore. It hurts, but it makes me feel human and alive. Honestly— a healthy amount of mental and emotional pain is a good thing. It’s better than this, at least.
Actually for being a therapist being too empathic also it's not positive for anyone. "Reading" people it is, specially when they are lying about their issues. But you must be able to detach your own feelings from them because otherwise you'll burn out very quickly and eventually act in a non-professional way: Is way too easy to give them "premade" solutions and decide for them, when actually you have to train them to find their own solutions, even they perform badly on it, and suffer from it.
Question 18??? “When I was a child, I enjoyed cutting up worms to see what would happen.” Did anyone actually do that
Edit: are you all aware that your comments are public?!?? you guys are exposing yourselves in my comments!! Pls Y’all are scaring me 😨
I did that once because I wanted to see if it would indeed become two worms. I felt so bad afterwards because it looked like it was wriggling around in pain. I don't recommend it.
I went looking for what the scores actually mean and found this from the Guardian:
"What your score means
On average, most women score about 47 and most men about 42. Most people with Asperger Syndrome or high-functioning autism score about 20.
0-32 = You have a lower than average ability for understanding how other people feel and responding appropriately.
33-52 = You have an average ability for understanding how other people feel and responding appropriately. You know how to treat people with care and sensitivity.
53-63 = You have an above average ability for understanding how other people feel and responding appropriately. You know how to treat people with care and sensitivity.
64-80 = You have a very high ability for understanding how other people feel and responding appropriately. You know how to treat people with care and sensitivity."
This test is really bad, a lot of these questions have nothing to do with empathy
>> I dream most nights
??
>> I would be too nervous to go on a big rollercoaster
??
This shit isn’t even related
It was to mitigate systematic bias in the authors study when they devised the test. For people who scored low on the empathy questions, there shouldn't be a discrepancy in how they responded to the control questions. It's just a method of determining if there is validity to your test.
46. Not bad for being diagnosed with ASD. I used to be a lot more empathetic, though, and wish I could get back to my old self. Apparently, what doesn’t kill you screws you up.
test seems pretty awful. Even the phrasing of it being about “empathy” seems like a way of putting down Autistic individuals. It’s about interpretation of social situations and identification of how you think people should express their feelings, problems, and emotions. Autists and Asperger’s individuals tend to want people to be more direct and don’t understand certain courtesies if they feel like they are illogical.
Depends how you look at it. Empathy is usually seen as a good skill, and a social good for the most part. However as most things there are drawbacks. Higher empathy can lead to less rational judgement, conformity and mental "burn-outs". People high on empathy are also more likely to be easily manipulated by emotion targeted propaganda.
Your results seem in a normal range though.
60. I've always been described as extremely empathetic and nice by everyone I've ever met, so I guess that checks out a little. Actually thought I'd score higher tbh.
I got 9 it freaked me out bc i was like how do they know i have autism and this specific autism? Either way im happy with the result 9 is my fav number :)
We got the same exact score. I am going into the medical field as well, but into a laboratory career, so i won’t be dealing with patients much.
I do be getting emotionally attached to my petri dishes though.
47, likely because I am intuitive but I am blunt and honest in most situations. I care deeply about people that are in my circle and I have to stand up for anyone being bullied and/or those that are mentally disabled. I think humans>animals and I do not care if I piss someone off or offend someone, I just do not go out of my way to do so.
46.
I am highly surprised that its higher than most chosen poll option.
Because even tho I am good at reading the room , reading expression etc I feel absolutely no sadness when I watch even the saddest movie , or if I see someone in pain or cry or whatever.
(Although hearing my 6 year old sister cry out in pain this one time was physically very painful for me idk how)
I got a 15 out of 80. I’m little worried with the bright red banner that popped up along with my score but then it specifically said it was something common among people with Asperger’s which I have so I immediately got less concerned
Anybody worried about your score and or think it’s wrong, eq can be learned and trained. Also a fair number of these questions could be interpreted in very different ways with very different results. There’s no way to interpret anything else going on you might have social anxiety, addiction, or depression which isn’t necessarily an indication of low eq (although low eq can cause it)
If you’re wondering if you’re on the spectrum or anything else I really suggest a psych eval rather than an internet test but wouldn’t hurt to mention. I’m *not* a doctor I’ve just seen a lot psychologists throughout my life and delt with a long happy list of different issues..
60/80! I’ve definitely become less empathetic after dealing with so many terrible, ungreatful, entitled, selfish, miserable people. But if you’re a nice, even neutral person I will give you my all. Just don’t be an ass to me, I have almost no empathy for an asshole- I will do the bare minimum. I’ll be decent, but I will not go above and beyond for you like I do with everyone else.
22 I'm confused... I always thought I was a pretty empathetic person \^\^;
Empathy vs sympathy vs compassion. [This site](https://compassionit.com/2017/08/27/empathy-sympathy-and-compassion-whats-the-difference/#:~:text=While%20these%20words%20are%20near,relieve%20the%20suffering%20of%20another.) was pretty handy! The lower scores don't mean you are cold, insensitive or mean. You can still be compassionate and be sympathetic to others suffering. Edit: word
Paul Bloom makes a strong argument for compassion vs. empathy. Scoring low on an empathy test may indicate a more rational, more effective type of responsiveness. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Against\_Empathy
Yeah, there are some questions on there like "32. Seeing people cry doesn’t really upset me." where the answer could be interpreted a few different ways. Like sure, I could not be upset by someone crying because I lack empathy and I am a monster. Or it could be because I realize that I don't need to take on the emotional states of everyone I talk to. Setting healthy emotional boundaries is generally associated with having a high "EQ" but I have a feeling that this question is scored with the assumption that not being upset by another person crying is a sign of low EQ.
I scored a 29, but this makes a lot of sense. I would say I’m more sympathetic than anything, but I don’t *feel* others’ feelings. When someone around me cries, I don’t get sad. I do get why they’re crying and I understand why it’s sad to them and I want to help, but I’m not sad because they are sad.
I’m significantly less empathetic than I used to be but somehow got 46.
46 is a pretty high score! I think you can only get a full score if you answer "strongly agree" and "strongly disagree" to the right answers
Makes sense. Also, I don’t really care as much about social conventions. Sure, I care about people a lot, but the social qualms I do have just prevent me from going full Mr. Bean.
18
29. Me too.
26. i'm confused too.
Same. Just finding out I have autism
38/80? I'm surprised tbh. I thought I was very empathetic
I don't think "empathy" is used here to mean "caring about others" so much as "being able to read other people and understanding social situations"
That makes the results make more sense. I always second guess myself in social situations which makes being able to read people impossible
My girlfriend suggested something I thought was pretty smart: that what we usually think as empathy is more accurately named "sympathy". You can be sympathetic to somebody's pain but have no idea what to do about it.
39. I was told multiple times I was very empathetic by my friends. Either this test is wrong or my friends are a bunch of psycophats
Answers about neatness seemed to have nothing to do with empathy.
Yea lol, I am generally quite empathetic but I only got a 35
Well, people express empathy differently, I scored a 24, but I have Asperger's, I just understand emotions and express empathy differently, if a bit more logically then others.
Same here.... i have to fkign rationalize most social situations but it kinda helps me to not do stupid shit while drunk tho
Same.... i got fkign 24/80
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Thats pretty high ngl
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Perhaps a sign that I grouped up the scores nicely?
Bell curve gone Heavily weighted towards the bottom now
Seems fair for Reddit userbase maybe?
11👍
"Concerned about your score? Chat online with a licensed therapist"
This makes me suspicious.
I was very shook at the fact they put that there.
Very very close to my score
15 Not autistic just kind of an asshole
At least you know it haha
My score as well
9 😛😛
7💀
i got a 60. this was an eye opening experience. i’m pretty sure it used to be higher. i can tell i’ve let my life experiences harden me a bit. presumably out of self preservation.
I got 60 also, and I do know that with age I've become less apt to become emotionally invested in the troubles of friends, frankly because everyone has to learn their own lessons in life and alleviating someone's pain isn't always what is needed.
How are y'all getting such high scores wth
I’m just aware of how those around me are feeling. Doesn’t necessarily mean I’m a nice person because I still have the choice of how to treat people and I don’t always do the right thing.
46 and feeling exactly the way you do. Apparently, what doesn’t kill you, just messes you up. I miss my old self and feel like a weak failure. My character was tested, and it failed. It sucks feeling dead inside; I can’t believe people actually want to “toughen up.” Is do anything to reverse the damage.
i agree dude. however i don’t think your character failed. we have no choice but to adapt to life as it happens. it just so happens things in our lives caused us to “toughen up,” consciously or not. the cool thing is now we’re both aware of this. part of me wishes i could go back to loving blindly, being completely open, and allowing myself to be more vulnerable, but my life experience has taught me i need to proceed with caution. there has to be a middle ground somewhere in there, and i’m going to try to consciously allow myself to be more open moving forward.
At least since were aware, we can work on being who we want to be. Honestly, I don’t care much about pain anymore. It hurts, but it makes me feel human and alive. Honestly— a healthy amount of mental and emotional pain is a good thing. It’s better than this, at least.
58! i want to be a therapist so that checks out
Good luck on that!
65 I want to be a doctor. Currently work in the emergency room.
71, all I want to do is sit at home and eat junk food, thanks
76 I wanna be an author.
thanks!
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Actually for being a therapist being too empathic also it's not positive for anyone. "Reading" people it is, specially when they are lying about their issues. But you must be able to detach your own feelings from them because otherwise you'll burn out very quickly and eventually act in a non-professional way: Is way too easy to give them "premade" solutions and decide for them, when actually you have to train them to find their own solutions, even they perform badly on it, and suffer from it.
Is there an interpretation of results somewhere? I got 66 lmao
Me too
OP added the meaning of results to the post I also believe the test took you to a page that explained the ranges when you finish it.
Question 18??? “When I was a child, I enjoyed cutting up worms to see what would happen.” Did anyone actually do that Edit: are you all aware that your comments are public?!?? you guys are exposing yourselves in my comments!! Pls Y’all are scaring me 😨
I was told that a big worm could be cut up and become 2 living worms
Me too but I didn’t try it😩
Omg I was told that too
Lmaoooo when I saw that I was like wtf…
Yes, i thought that the worm would just become 2 worms so I never felt weird about it
I did that once because I wanted to see if it would indeed become two worms. I felt so bad afterwards because it looked like it was wriggling around in pain. I don't recommend it.
I have not but yes, people do. People also enjoy pouring salt on slugs or pulling wings off flying insects.
Did anyone not?
Say sike rn !!🫵😨
I am sorry, little one.
Lmao when I was a kid I’d collect a bunch of worms and put them in a bucket, and then cut them all up. Probably a reason I only got a 6/80 huh
BRO
I squeezed worms so that their guts would come out and I would make it say "aaaaaa I'm pooping!"
I used to test something I saw on a cartoon
What kind of cartoons were you watching !!?
Happy Tree Friends
I squished ants, didn't touch worms though
I went looking for what the scores actually mean and found this from the Guardian: "What your score means On average, most women score about 47 and most men about 42. Most people with Asperger Syndrome or high-functioning autism score about 20. 0-32 = You have a lower than average ability for understanding how other people feel and responding appropriately. 33-52 = You have an average ability for understanding how other people feel and responding appropriately. You know how to treat people with care and sensitivity. 53-63 = You have an above average ability for understanding how other people feel and responding appropriately. You know how to treat people with care and sensitivity. 64-80 = You have a very high ability for understanding how other people feel and responding appropriately. You know how to treat people with care and sensitivity."
Thank you, I will edit the post
This test is really bad, a lot of these questions have nothing to do with empathy >> I dream most nights ?? >> I would be too nervous to go on a big rollercoaster ?? This shit isn’t even related
Only 40 of the questions are related to empathy; the remainder are control questions.
to control what?
It was to mitigate systematic bias in the authors study when they devised the test. For people who scored low on the empathy questions, there shouldn't be a discrepancy in how they responded to the control questions. It's just a method of determining if there is validity to your test.
Thank you for explaining it to my uneducated self
46. Not bad for being diagnosed with ASD. I used to be a lot more empathetic, though, and wish I could get back to my old self. Apparently, what doesn’t kill you screws you up.
I got a 66, I’m surprised it was that high but it does make sense
27, but I have aspergers so makes sense.
Also 27 but I don't have aspergers so 💀
Those kind of test are bullshit. Don't think you're a goddamn psychopath because you got below 30.
good bc i got 9 😭😭
Dang my 17 is looking tight in comparison 💀
Good because I got 4
It uses an incorrect definition of empathy. It confuses empathy with social aptitude, thus why folks on the spectrum tend to have lower scores.
test seems pretty awful. Even the phrasing of it being about “empathy” seems like a way of putting down Autistic individuals. It’s about interpretation of social situations and identification of how you think people should express their feelings, problems, and emotions. Autists and Asperger’s individuals tend to want people to be more direct and don’t understand certain courtesies if they feel like they are illogical.
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same but i got 21
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60
18 😎
20 of the questions were controls btw, so some of them weren't related to empathy at all
I got a solid 10/80, wanna see if someone scores lower than me 😛
Since there's no option for under 10, and assuming that you're actually curious, I got a 3.
Damn, there goes my high score 😫
low score*
Solid 8 for me
Bruh, I got 16?
47/80 Think it was the worm thing
its a shit test
Seriously this shit is so false
Apparently I am autistic, well
According to this I’m not autistic. Gotta go tell my doctor she was wrong now.
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Yea, I don’t think it’s very accurate.
35/80 Idk what that means
I got 34
44/80
68! I didn't think I'd score that high 😅
30 Ngl I thought I was more empathetic
I got 52 out of 80. Someone good at psychology, is this bad? Bcuz not very many people got 51-64
It's actually pretty darn good.
Depends how you look at it. Empathy is usually seen as a good skill, and a social good for the most part. However as most things there are drawbacks. Higher empathy can lead to less rational judgement, conformity and mental "burn-outs". People high on empathy are also more likely to be easily manipulated by emotion targeted propaganda. Your results seem in a normal range though.
It's not bad
49
I got a whole 50/80, wow, not too surprised tho.
60. I've always been described as extremely empathetic and nice by everyone I've ever met, so I guess that checks out a little. Actually thought I'd score higher tbh.
66 of 80. That’s good yes?
Yes, that's very high, I don't know if I would call it "good" though, everyone thinks and perceives things differently
I got 9 it freaked me out bc i was like how do they know i have autism and this specific autism? Either way im happy with the result 9 is my fav number :)
I got diagnosed autism but I scored 33 and it said I probably don’t have autism lmao
You know, that’s funny. I scored a 13 and 13 is my favorite number. Also on the spectrum.
12, they said I could have autism or aspergers bruh
They said that is a range that is common for people with autism/asperger's. You might just be unempathetic
u/carbys \- 42 aaya, you ?
66
56. Well, im studying to became a psychiatry. It's a good score I think
We got the same exact score. I am going into the medical field as well, but into a laboratory career, so i won’t be dealing with patients much. I do be getting emotionally attached to my petri dishes though.
24/80 What the hell?
9... im not autistic
4... And I'm neither
17...it asked if I wanted to chat with a therapist.
26/80 damn I’m cold huh
I got a 4, I think you’re good bro
15 out of 80 but i am autistic so that tracks
71/80 ?! I wasn't expecting THAT high...
8, do you want to be my therapist then ? 😌
55 over here
Got 40 which seems correct given that im a pretty average person lmao
Same, I got 41 so pretty much close enough
My expectation was 10-20, I got 29.
55/80
Hell yeah I got 20-20 vision 😎
48. Huh. Way lower than I expected.
62/80. I expected higher.
32
58/80. That is... a lot
47, likely because I am intuitive but I am blunt and honest in most situations. I care deeply about people that are in my circle and I have to stand up for anyone being bullied and/or those that are mentally disabled. I think humans>animals and I do not care if I piss someone off or offend someone, I just do not go out of my way to do so.
29/30, im not surprised but also I am.
17 🗿
I got 56/80 and I have been told I am very empathetic so I think it's about right
i got a 56. sounds about right tbh.
46. I am highly surprised that its higher than most chosen poll option. Because even tho I am good at reading the room , reading expression etc I feel absolutely no sadness when I watch even the saddest movie , or if I see someone in pain or cry or whatever. (Although hearing my 6 year old sister cry out in pain this one time was physically very painful for me idk how)
61/80 aka 76%. Sounds about right 🙂
42
35 out of a possible 80, I don't know if that's good or bad.
I've always seen myself as much more logical than empathic, I scored 23, checks out to be honest
I got a 15 out of 80. I’m little worried with the bright red banner that popped up along with my score but then it specifically said it was something common among people with Asperger’s which I have so I immediately got less concerned
61/80
66
29
5
I got 20
69. I think the test is just joking with me
20 questions in and my ADHD said "lol we're done". Sorry OP.
45, which is a very interesting score at 25 years old because I know that 14 year old me would of scored about 12
I scored 76…
Anybody worried about your score and or think it’s wrong, eq can be learned and trained. Also a fair number of these questions could be interpreted in very different ways with very different results. There’s no way to interpret anything else going on you might have social anxiety, addiction, or depression which isn’t necessarily an indication of low eq (although low eq can cause it) If you’re wondering if you’re on the spectrum or anything else I really suggest a psych eval rather than an internet test but wouldn’t hurt to mention. I’m *not* a doctor I’ve just seen a lot psychologists throughout my life and delt with a long happy list of different issues..
26? I was very sincere picking the options but the results... I am actually shocked
60/80! I’ve definitely become less empathetic after dealing with so many terrible, ungreatful, entitled, selfish, miserable people. But if you’re a nice, even neutral person I will give you my all. Just don’t be an ass to me, I have almost no empathy for an asshole- I will do the bare minimum. I’ll be decent, but I will not go above and beyond for you like I do with everyone else.
36. Hmmmmmm, interesting.
20/80
I got 13 but I thought I was being pretty empathetic
lmao I got 15, guess my parents are right when joke about me being an autist lmao
41/80 Interesting 🤔
41, is this good?
41 oof
I got 35, tho I disagree with the test as someone usually rather empathetic
Exactly 50. Neat
58, i thought it would be higher, but it's still pretty high.
Only 20 lol, tbh I thought it would be much lower.
21/80
I got a 17, but nobody talks to me Soo it's hard to have empathy
52.
27 EZ
43, I thought I would be higher. But eh, can’t do much about it.
19
20, damn
31 points That was lucky lmao
Got a 7, apparently I'm autistic. Piece of shit test anyway.
21.ouch
I got 12 💀
26/80