Psychometric properties of the School Empathy Questionnaire: analysis of construct validity and reliability

Abstract

The development of empathy is an essential component for strengthening school coexistence, preventing aggressive behavior, and promoting holistic learning in primary school students. This study sought to analyze the psychometric properties of the School Empathy Questionnaire, evaluating its construct validity and reliability as an instrument for measuring the level of empathy in fifth-grade students in Peruvian educational contexts. An instrumental study was conducted to explore the questionnaire's structure and conceptual coherence, considering how it reflects the essential dimensions of the construct. The results showed that the questionnaire identifies five dimensions of empathy: emotional understanding, perspective-taking, empathic concern, prosocial behavior, and school coexistence. These dimensions are consistently related and allow for an understanding of how empathic skills manifest in daily school practice. This study also demonstrated that the instrument is reliable and provides useful information for the design of pedagogical programs based on active methodologies, facilitating the identification of areas for improvement and teaching strategies focused on socio-emotional development. Furthermore, the findings showed that it allows for the observation of the complexity of empathy in different school contexts. In conclusion, the questionnaire emerges as a robust and versatile instrument that contributes to strengthening social-emotional education, guides pedagogical assessment, and promotes didactic innovation in primary education.