title: SELF-REPORT OF EMPATHY: A SHORTENED FRENCH ADAPTATION OF THE INTERPERSONAL REACTIVITY INDEX (IRI) USING TWO LARGE BELGIAN SAMPLES.
abstract: For more than 30 years, the Interpersonal Reactivity Index (IRI) has been used to measure the multidimensional aspects of empathy. But the 28-item, 4-factor model of Davis (1980 ) is currently contested because of methodological issues and for theoretical reasons. Confirmatory (CFA) and exploratory factor analyses (EFA) were applied in two French-speaking Belgian student samples (1,244 participants in the first and 729 in the second study) to test this model and to propose a shortened version. A non-optimal fit was found with respect to the CFI value (Study 1). By splitting the student group into two random subsamples, EFA and then CFA were used to propose a 15-item, 4-factor model with good fit indices. A CFA on the second student group (Study 2) replicated this model. Results are discussed considering the influence of social desirability response bias, an absence of strong invariance across sex and the usefulness of self-report scales to measure empathy.
authors.affiliation: 1 Department of Psychiatry, Erasmus Hospital, Free University of Brussels, Belgium.
authors.forename: Stéphanie
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Braun
authors.affiliation: 2 Department of Data Analysis, Ghent University, Belgium.
authors.forename: Yves
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Rosseel
authors.affiliation: 1 Department of Psychiatry, Erasmus Hospital, Free University of Brussels, Belgium.
authors.forename: Chantal
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Kempenaers
authors.affiliation: 1 Department of Psychiatry, Erasmus Hospital, Free University of Brussels, Belgium.
authors.forename: Gwenole
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Loas
authors.affiliation: 1 Department of Psychiatry, Erasmus Hospital, Free University of Brussels, Belgium.
authors.forename: Paul
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Linkowski
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001530:Belgium; D004645:Empathy; D005163:Factor Analysis, Statistical; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007802:Language; D008297:Male; D011594:Psychometrics; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D057566:Self Report; D013334:Students / Q000523:psychology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires / Q000592:standards*; D014175:Translating; D055815:Young Adult