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The scale you completed was the "Interpersonal Reactivity Index," developed by Mark H. Davis.

The scale is a measure of empathy, covering four distinct aspects of empathic responding to others: 1) perspective-taking, 2) fantasy, 3) empathic concern, and 4) personal distress.

The idea behind the scale is that empathy is a multi-faceted human trait, and that there are different domains in which people may be particularly sensitive to the feelings of others. This is why the scale is divided into four subscales, which are described as follows: "The Perspective-Taking scale assesses the tendency to spontaneously adopt the psychological point of view of others; the Fantasy scale taps respondents' tendencies to transpose themselves imaginatively into the feelings and actions of fictitious characters in books, movies, and plays. The other two subscales measure typical emotional reactions of the respondents: The Empathic Concern scale assesses 'other-oriented' feelings of sympathy and concern for unfortunate others, and the Personal Distress scale measures 'self-oriented' feelings of personal anxiety and unease in tense interpersonal settings" (Davis, 1983).

The graph below shows your score (in green) compared to others who have taken this scale (in purple) .







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