The EmpathiSEr: Development and Validation of Software Engineering Oriented Empathy Scales

TL;DR

The paper addresses the lack of validated, SE-specific empathy measures by developing EmpathiSEr-P (practitioner empathy) and EmpathiSEr-U (empathy toward users). Through a rigorous seven-stage, mixed-methods process including expert evaluations, cognitive interviews, and psychometric validation with 229–238 practitioners, the authors establish three dimensions—cognitive empathy, affective empathy, and empathic responses—for each scale. Both instruments demonstrate solid internal consistency and convergent validity against established empathy measures, while showing expected discriminant validity relative to narcissism and socially desirable responding. The resulting tools enable systematic measurement of empathy in SE contexts, with broad implications for research, team development, user-centered design, and empathy training in software practice.

Abstract

Empathy plays a critical role in software engineering (SE), influencing collaboration, communication, and user-centred design. Although SE research has increasingly recognised empathy as a key human aspect, there remains no validated instrument specifically designed to measure it within the unique socio-technical contexts of SE. Existing generic empathy scales, while well-established in psychology and healthcare, often rely on language, scenarios, and assumptions that are not meaningful or interpretable for software practitioners. These scales fail to account for the diverse, role-specific, and domain-bound expressions of empathy in SE, such as understanding a non-technical user's frustrations or another practitioner's technical constraints, which differ substantially from empathy in clinical or everyday contexts. To address this gap, we developed and validated two domain-specific empathy scales: EmpathiSEr-P, assessing empathy among practitioners, and EmpathiSEr-U, capturing practitioner empathy towards users. Grounded in a practitioner-informed conceptual framework, the scales encompass three dimensions of empathy: cognitive empathy, affective empathy, and empathic responses. We followed a rigorous, multi-phase methodology, including expert evaluation, cognitive interviews, and two practitioner surveys. The resulting instruments represent the first psychometrically validated empathy scales tailored to SE, offering researchers and practitioners a tool for assessing empathy and designing empathy-enhancing interventions in software teams and user interactions.

Figures (1)

• Figure 1: Overview of the SE Empathy Scale Development Process