Assessing dispositional empathy in adults: A French validation of the Interpersonal Reactivity Index (IRI)

Anne-Laure Gilet (1) , Nathalie Mella (2) , Joseph Studer , Daniel Grühn , Gisela Labouvie-Vief

1 LPPL - Laboratoire de Psychologie des Pays de la Loire
2 Laboratoire de Neuroscience cognitive et d'imagerie cérébrale

The goal of this study was to validate a French version of the Interpersonal Reactivity Index (IRI), a self-report questionnaire comprised of four subscales assessing affective (empathic concern and personal distress) and cognitive (fantasy and perspective taking) components of empathy. To accomplish this, 322 adults (18 to 89 years) completed the French version of the IRI (F-IRI). A confirmatory factor analysis confirmed the four-factor structure of the original IRI. The F-IRI showed good scale score reliability, test–retest reliability, and convergent validity, tested with the French version of the Empathy Quotient. These findings confirmed the reliability and validity of the F-IRI and suggest that the F-IRI is a useful instrument to measure self-reported empathy. In addition, we observed sex and age differences consistent with findings in the literature. Women reported higher scores in empathic concern and fantasy than men. Older adults reported less personal distress and less fantasy.

Mots clés: distress; Empathy; French validation; perspective taking; Interpersonal Reactivity Index; adults; Questionnaires; Role Taking; Self Report; Test Validity; validation

Domaines: Sciences de l'Homme et Société

Anne-Laure Gilet, Nathalie Mella, Joseph Studer, Daniel Grühn, Gisela Labouvie-Vief. Assessing dispositional empathy in adults: A French validation of the Interpersonal Reactivity Index (IRI). Canadian Journal of Behavioural Science, 2013, 45 (1), pp.42-48. ⟨10.1037/a0030425⟩. ⟨hal-01390538⟩