Testing the Psychometric Properties of the Scale of Ethnocultural Empathy in Turkey

Abstract

The validity and reliability of the Scale of Ethnocultural Empathy (SEE) was tested using a sample of 348 emerging adult university students living in Turkey. Different from the original scale's four-factor structure, results of principal components analyses and confirmatory factor analyses exposed that there were three factors explaining 45% of the total variance of the SEE in the Turkish culture. There were high correlations among these three factors of the 30-item Turkish version of the SEE, two subscales of the Interpersonal Reactivity Index, and a 10-item Parental Ethnocultural Empathy Scale as proof of its convergent validity. The 30-item Turkish version of the SEE also had high internal consistency and test-retest reliability scores. The group differences for gender and ethnicity are given, and future research suggestions for using that scale in multiracial social contexts are discussed.