How much do you feel what others feel? The TEQ measures emotional empathy - your ability to pick up on and respond to others emotions. 16 items, about 4 minutes.

How empathetic are you?

Do you catch other people's emotions easily? Feel a tug when someone is upset? Get swept up in a friend's excitement? That's emotional empathy, and the Toronto Empathy Questionnaire (TEQ) measures how much it happens for you.

Developed by Spreng, McKinnon, Mar & Levine (2009), the TEQ treats empathy as primarily an emotional process rather than a cognitive one. It's not about how well you read people - it's about how much their feelings affect yours.

Psychometrics

Validated across three independent samples. Internal consistency alpha=0.81. Converges with prosocial behavior and self-report empathy measures; inversely correlated with autism traits. A Chinese version (cTEQ) was validated in a 2020 study with medical students.

Who it's for

Anyone curious about their empathy style. High empathy is linked to stronger relationships, but also to compassion fatigue - so this scale is often useful for therapists, healthcare workers, and educators who want to keep tabs on their emotional load.

Scoring Guide

Score range 0-64. 8 positive (1,3,5,6,8,9,13,16) + 8 reverse-scored (2,4,7,10,11,12,14,15) items. Internal consistency alpha=0.81. Scores >45 indicate above-average empathy.

Result Interpretation

After completing the 16 questions, you'll receive an immediate, detailed report with:

  • Your score — calculated automatically based on your responses
  • Score interpretation — what your score means in practical terms
  • Context — how your results compare to general population norms where available

All results are displayed on screen. No account or login needed.