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Dissociation of Cognitive and Emotional Empathy in Adults with Asperger Syndrome Using the Multifaceted Empathy Test (MET)

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Abstract

Empathy is a multidimensional construct consisting of cognitive (inferring mental states) and emotional (empathic concern) components. Despite a paucity of research, individuals on the autism spectrum are generally believed to lack empathy. In the current study we used a new, photo-based measure, the Multifaceted Empathy Test (MET), to assess empathy multidimensionally in a group of 17 individuals with Asperger syndrome (AS) and 18 well-matched controls. Results suggested that while individuals with AS are impaired in cognitive empathy, they do not differ from controls in emotional empathy. Level of general emotional arousability and socially desirable answer tendencies did not differ between groups. Internal consistency of the MET’s scales ranged from .71 to .92, and convergent and divergent validity were highly satisfactory.

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Acknowledgments

The study was funded by a grant from the National Alliance for Autism Research (NAAR) to A.C.

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Author notes

  1. Oliver T. Wolf

    Present address: Department of Psychology, Ruhr-University Bochum, Bochum, Germany

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Neurocognition of Decision Making, Max-Planck-Institute for Human Development, Lentzeallee 94, 14195, Berlin, Germany

    Isabel Dziobek, Markus Bahnemann & Hauke R. Heekeren

  2. Center for Brain Health, New York University School of Medicine, New York, NY, USA

    Isabel Dziobek, Kimberley Rogers & Antonio Convit

  3. Department of Psychology, The Graduate Center of the City University of New York, New York, NY, USA

    Kimberley Rogers

  4. Department of Neuroscience and Rehabilitation, University of Cologne, Cologne, Germany

    Stefan Fleck

  5. Department of Psychology, University Bielefeld, Bielefeld, Germany

    Oliver T. Wolf

  6. Nathan Kline Institute for Psychiatric Research, Orangeburg, NY, USA

    Antonio Convit

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  1. Isabel Dziobek
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Correspondence to Isabel Dziobek.

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Dziobek, I., Rogers, K., Fleck, S. et al. Dissociation of Cognitive and Emotional Empathy in Adults with Asperger Syndrome Using the Multifaceted Empathy Test (MET). J Autism Dev Disord 38, 464–473 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-007-0486-x

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-007-0486-x

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