Abstract:

This is an adaptation study that explicates the usage of 3 factor Empathy Quotient EQ which was developed by Lawrence, Shaw, Baker, Baron-Cohen and David (2004) on social studies pre-service teachers. The original scale consists of 60 items 20 of which are filler and 3 factors. Within this two phase adaptation study, validity and reliability analyses were conducted with 149 students in the first phase and 297 students in the second phase. Exploratory Factor Analyses and Confirmatory Factor Analyses were carried out for the validity analyses. On the other hand, Internal Consistency Coefficient was calculated for reliability analyses. Following the completion of Exploratory Factor Analyses for construct validity, it was determined that the scale consists of 13 items. However, in the second phase, the factor structures which were realized for empathy ranks were analyzed with Confirmatory Factor Analyses. According to the results, the hypothesized model has substantially good fit indices. Also these results overlap with the original form of the original scale. Determined scales are named; Social Skills, Emotional Reactivity and Cognitive Empathy. Reliability level of the adapted scale was calculated through different sample groups in both phases. In the first phase, reliability coefficients for entire scale and three subscales are ( .78, .64, .71, .74) and in the second phase are ( .86, .61, .75, .74). Consequently, even so the results which were obtained through the validity and reliability analyses of the adapted scale seem acceptable, the fact which should be taken into consideration is all of these analyses were carried out just for the Social Studies Pre-service teachers. With this perspective, it is recommended that new CFA should be conducted for the pre-service teachers of different departments of the faculty of education.

Keywords: