Student Leadership Measurement Library
Basic Empathy Scale
The Basic Empathy Scale (BES) is a tool that has been used to assess empathy in young people and adolescents.
Constructs Being Measured
Primary
Empathy
How to Access and Cite
Outcome Families
Connectedness
Awareness
Programmatic Purpose-terms
Classroom-level data and feedback
Feedback for parents and other school-level stakeholders
Program-level monitoring and evaluation
Instrument Characteristics
Type of items
5-point Likert type (20 items)
Original target population
Post-secodary students
Format
Self-report
Applicable Grade Levels-terms
Secondary
Supporting Research
Carre, Arnaud & Stefaniak, Nicolas & D'Ambrosio, Fanny & Bensalah, Leïla & Besche, Chrystel. (2013). The Basic Empathy Scale in Adults (BES-A): Factor structure of a revised form.. Psychological Assessment. 25. 679-691. 10.1037/a0032297.
Available Languages
French
Rationale
Points to Consider
For more guidance on measuring student learning and best practices in adapting measurement tools to your contexts, check out the Portal page on Monitoring and Evaluation. You can also contact Alvin Vista (Knowledge Lead, Student Outcomes) and Robbie Dean (Director of Research) for specific questions.