On a Scale of State Empathy During Message Processing

Abstract

State empathy during message processing was conceptualized as a process where perception of the characters’ state automatically activates the recipient's vicarious experience of their state, situation, and object, which automatically primes and generates the associated automatic and somatic responses that precede persuasion outcomes. It was proposed that there are three dimensions within state empathy: affective, cognitive, and associative empathy. A 12-item scale was developed as a measurement instrument. Confirmatory factor analyses of data from two samples, one of college students (N = 289) and the other of the general public (N = 189), showed that the scale was unidimensional on the second order. The scale exhibited good internal and external consistency, convergent, and discriminant validity. The scale also had good reliability. Implications for future research and health communication were discussed.

Keywords:

• Confirmatory Factor Analysis
• Construct Validity
• Health Communication
• Measurement
• PSA
• State Empathy

This research is supported by a pilot grant from the Centers for Disease Control Southern Center for Communication, Health and Poverty. The author thanks Elisabeth Bigsby, Todd Lee Goen, and Tim Worley for their assistance in data collection, and Sean Hendricks for assistance in programming the experiment on Medialab.

Notes

Item 13: perceived effectiveness; Item 14: BIS; Item 15: BAS; Item 16: Trait Empathy.

¹Sex, age, and message topic were partialed out.

Item 13: perceived effectiveness; Item 14: BIS; Item 15: BAS; Item 16: Trait Empathy.

¹Sex, age, and smoking behavior were partialed out.

^a Root Mean Squared Error Approximation. ^b Comparative Fit Index. ^c Goodness of Fit Index.

^d Bayesian Information Criterion = χ² − ln(N) × d.f., where χ² is the Minimum Function Chi-square, N is the sample size, and d.f. is the degree of freedom of the model.

^e The model includes the four external variables (BIS, BAS, trait empathy, and perceived effectiveness).

^a Alpha reliabilities.

*p < .05. **p < .01. ***p < .001.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Lijiang Shen

Lijiang Shen is an Assistant Professor at the Department of Speech Communication, University of Georgia.