Empathy Quotient

Inspired from The Empathy Quotient, developed by Dr. Simon Baron-Cohen and colleagues, measures individual differences in empathy, an essential part of normal social functioning.

The empathizing–systemizing (E-S) theory suggests that people may be classified on the basis of their scores along two dimensions: empathizing (E) and systemizing (S). It measures a person's strength of interest in empathy (the ability to identify and understand the thoughts and feelings of others and to respond to these with appropriate emotions); and a person's strength of interest in systems (in terms of the drive to analyse or construct them). A system is anything that follows rules. Key classes of systems including mechanical systems, natural systems, abstract systems, and collectible systems. Rules in turn are defined as repeating, lawful patterns. The E-S theory has been tested using the Empathy Quotient (EQ) and Systemizing Quotient (SQ), and generates 5 different "brain types" depending on the presence or absence of discrepancies between their scores on E or S:

Type E, whose empathy is at a significantly higher level than their systemizing (E>S).
Type S, whose systemizing at a significantly higher level than their empathy (S>E).
Type B (for balanced), whose empathy is at the same level as their systemizing (E=S).
Extreme Type E, whose empathy is above average but whose systemizing is below average (E>>S).
Extreme Type S, whose systemizing is above average but whose empathy is below average (S>>E).

This self-assessment focuses only on the Empathy Quotient (EQ).

Scores from 41% to 65% are considered average. In previous equivalent studies using this measure, the average score for women was 60%, the average score for men was 50%, and the average score for individuals with an autism spectrum disorder was 24%. Although people with autism spectrum disorders tended to have lower scores, this test is not diagnostic of an autism spectrum disorder. College students majoring in the physical sciences (average score = 45%) tend to score lower than do students majoring in biological science (average score = 56%), social science (average score = 56%), or humanities (average score = 58%).