Wow you got 61 on the empathy thing, I got a disappointing 18.... but good for you haha ( I’m not surprised you got a high score tbh, you seem like such a nice person)
Ah heck don’t feel bad bro, Empathy isn’t necessarily a measure of how ‘kind’ or ‘nice’ you are, it’s just a measure of how in-tune you are with people’s emotions, and how much you can feel what other people are feeling. A small bit of emotional detachment is actually healthy, because it keeps you from taking EVERYTHING personally, or from taking on everyone else’s pain as your own.
And keep in mind, some of those questions are actually measures of maturity. Someone that’s, as an example, 14, LIKELY won’t be as emotionally mature as someone who’s 25. They’ve had less experience, and have had to deal with less emotionally nuanced situations with friends and family.
–cont
I can guarantee that I would have scored about half as good, probably worse, if I’d taken this test about five years ago. And I DEFINITELY would have scored below 20 if I’d taken it as a teenager.
While I whole-heartedly support people trying to be more empathetic [though that’s… not something you can really ‘exercise’, it’s something sort of innate], it can get you in trouble if you’re TOO empathetic. I often take on people’s emotional troubles, or I become like an emotional chameleon, so if someone I care about is upset, I get upset involuntarily. If someone else is happy, I often get happy. I also tend to get emotionally invested in some people that I really shouldn’t, or I take things to heart, even when someone’s just spouting nonsensical hatred over the internet. Again, that’s something I’ve gotten better at over the years.
A low score on a test like this should never be seen as an end-all ‘welp it’s right and I’ll never change’ sort of thing. You change over time, and while scores can be indicative or one thing or another [because I’m aware people on the autism scale can have a harder time with empathy/understanding social cues], something like an Empathy Test definitely doesn’t mean you’re a good person if you have a high score, or a bad person if you have a low score.
I know people that have low empathy that still try to be kind, and just have a harder time understanding people’s emotions, but I also know very empathetic people that are incredibly manipulative and use that in-tune-ness to attack people when they’re vulnerable. It all depends on the person.
