Cognitive Empathy Scale

Can you put yourself in others' shoes, even if you've never experienced what they have? Take this test to find out.

By Mark Travers, Ph.D. | June 26, 2024

Cognitive empathy is the ability to understand and interpret another person's emotions and perspectives intellectually. Unlike affective empathy, which involves sharing emotional experiences, cognitive empathy is about recognizing and comprehending the thoughts and feelings of others. This type of empathy is essential for effective communication, problem-solving and supporting friends and loved ones.

Understanding an individual's cognitive empathy capacity helps identify their ability to perceive and relate to others' mental states. Assessing your ability to engage in cognitive empathy can provide valuable insights into your social cognition, communication skills and potential areas for personal growth or development.

The Cognitive Empathy Scale—one dimension of the Cognitive, Affective and Somatic Empathy Scales (CASES)—is a valuable tool for assessing one's ability to intellectually understand the emotions and perspectives of others. With this instrument, you can assess how well you are able to recognize and interpret others' joy and sorrow, no matter the circumstance—even if you've never experienced it yourself.

You can take this test here. Follow all of the steps to receive your results.

Step 1: On a scale from never to always, rate the statements based on how frequently you exhibit the described behaviors.

1. I know why my friends are cheerful, even when they don't say why.

2. I can tell when someone is feeling guilty.

3. When someone is in a good mood, I can tell by how they look and behave.

4. I can tell from their face and how they behave when someone is ashamed.

5. I can understand how characters in an exciting story feel.

6. I know when someone is unhappy, even before they say why.

7. When a friend is teased, I understand why they get upset.

8. I know when my family members are pleased by how they talk.

9. When someone is disappointed, I can tell by how they look.

10. I can put myself in someone else's shoes when they describe being happy.

Step 2: Enter your age, gender, region, and first name so we can provide you with a detailed report that compares your test scores to people similar to you.

What is your age?

What is your gender?

What region of the world do you live in?

What is your first name?

Step 3: Check to make sure you've provided answers to all of the statements/questions above. Once you've done that, click the button below to send your responses to Awake Therapy's Lead Psychologist, Mark Travers, Ph.D. He will provide you with an overview of how you scored relative to others (all answers are anonymized and confidential to protect users' privacy). He can also answer any follow-up questions you may have.

References: Raine, A., Chen, F. R., & Waller, R. (2022). The cognitive, affective and somatic empathy scales for adults. Personality and Individual Differences, 185, 111238.