Are You an Empath? Take the Quiz

Table of ContentsView AllTable of ContentsWho Is This Empath Quiz For?About This Empath QuizWhat to Know About EmpathsWhat Are Signs You’re an Empath?MirroringReading PeopleCaring DeeplySensitivityHow to Be EmpatheticNext Steps

Table of ContentsView All

View All

Table of Contents

Who Is This Empath Quiz For?

About This Empath Quiz

What to Know About Empaths

What Are Signs You’re an Empath?

Mirroring

Reading People

Caring Deeply

Sensitivity

How to Be Empathetic

Next Steps

To find out if you fit the commonly accepted criteria, take our fast and free empath quiz.

This quiz is for anyone who is curious about their empathy levels. It can help you find out if your empathy levels are high enough to be considered an empath, and to better understand your feelings and interactions with others. Each question relates to feelings and experiences common among empaths.

This empath quiz is based on feelings and experiences that are common for people who are described as empaths. There’s no official scale for being an empath, so your result likely reflects how you see yourself and your ability to show empathy.

Empathy is the ability to understand other people’s feelings. It’s a trait that’s important for human interactions and one that can be taught or built on. Being an empath goes beyond empathy.

Empaths don’t just understand the feelings of others, they absorb those feelings and take them on as their own.

There’s no scientific consensus on whether or not empaths exist, but some research suggests that sensory processing sensitivity, which could be connected to empathetic traits, can be found in about 20% of the human population.

So, true empaths who feel deeply and experience the emotions of others could actually exist—they just might not be very common.

Since empaths are very sensitive to their surroundings and the emotional state of others around them, they can experience sensory overload or feel overwhelmed. In order to ground themselves or restore energy, an empath my need to spend time alone doing something calming.

They may also need to be more selective with people they spend time with, limiting the amount of contact they have with those who are consistently projecting emotions that feel draining.

Empaths have more empathy than your average empathetic person. They’re also more skilled at recognizing the emotions of others. Here are some signs you may be an empath:

Highly empathetic people may mirror other people’s movements or emotions, meaning if they see someone else get injured, they might physically react too. If an empath is around someone experiencing a strong emotion, the empath might feel exactly what that person is feeling.

Those who are more in tune with feeling emotions are also more likely to recognize and assess the meaning of facial expressions.

Empaths may pick up on subtle cues in someone’s facial expression or body language that indicate how that person is feeling. They can tell more easily if someone is being genuine or not.

The care empaths have and show for others goes beyond that of an average person. They may go out of their way to help others feel happy, comfortable, or safe.

Without checking in on their own capacity and needs, this automatic default mode may lead to blurredboundaries, emotional exhaustion, and burnout.

Empathy is a trait that can be taught and learned, so it’s possible to increase your empathetic abilities. Here are some things you can practice:

It takes time and practice to become more empathetic, but if you’re committed to doing it, you have already taken the very necessary first steps that will have you on your way to being a more empathetic person.

If you scored low in empathetic traits, you might consider reaching out to a therapist to learn more about empathy and how you can build those skills.

If you display traits of an empath and are feeling overwhelmed, you might want to learn more aboutself-care strategiesto help you care for your mental health. You may also consider reaching out to a therapist to learn how to establish healthy boundaries with people in your life.

2 SourcesVerywell Mind uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.Acevedo BP, Aron EN, Aron A, Sangster M, Collins N, Brown LL.The highly sensitive brain: an fMRI study of sensory processing sensitivity and response to others’ emotions.Brain and Behavior. 2014;4(4):580-594. doi:10.1002/brb3.242Jeon H, Lee SH.From neurons to social beings: short review of the mirror neuron system research and its socio-psychological and psychiatric implications.Clin Psychopharmacol Neurosci. 2018;16(1):18-31. doi:10.9758/cpn.2018.16.1.18Additional ReadingArgye E. Hillis, Inability to empathize: brain lesions that disrupt sharing and understanding another’s emotions,Brain, Volume 137, Issue 4, April 2014, Pages 981–997,https://doi.org/10.1093/brain/awt317Blair R. J. R. (2018). Traits of empathy and anger: implications for psychopathy and other disorders associated with aggression.Phil. Trans. R. Soc.http://doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2017.0155Klimecki OM, Leiberg S, Ricard M, Singer T. (2014).Differential pattern of functional brain plasticity after compassion and empathy training. Soc Cogn Affect Neurosci. 9(6):873-9. doi: 10.1093/scan/nst060.Riess H. (2017).The Science of Empathy. J Patient Exp. 4(2):74-77. doi: 10.1177/2374373517699267.Riess H. (2017).The Science of Empathy.J Patient Exp.4(2):74-77. doi: 10.1177/2374373517699267

2 Sources

Verywell Mind uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.Acevedo BP, Aron EN, Aron A, Sangster M, Collins N, Brown LL.The highly sensitive brain: an fMRI study of sensory processing sensitivity and response to others’ emotions.Brain and Behavior. 2014;4(4):580-594. doi:10.1002/brb3.242Jeon H, Lee SH.From neurons to social beings: short review of the mirror neuron system research and its socio-psychological and psychiatric implications.Clin Psychopharmacol Neurosci. 2018;16(1):18-31. doi:10.9758/cpn.2018.16.1.18Additional ReadingArgye E. Hillis, Inability to empathize: brain lesions that disrupt sharing and understanding another’s emotions,Brain, Volume 137, Issue 4, April 2014, Pages 981–997,https://doi.org/10.1093/brain/awt317Blair R. J. R. (2018). Traits of empathy and anger: implications for psychopathy and other disorders associated with aggression.Phil. Trans. R. Soc.http://doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2017.0155Klimecki OM, Leiberg S, Ricard M, Singer T. (2014).Differential pattern of functional brain plasticity after compassion and empathy training. Soc Cogn Affect Neurosci. 9(6):873-9. doi: 10.1093/scan/nst060.Riess H. (2017).The Science of Empathy. J Patient Exp. 4(2):74-77. doi: 10.1177/2374373517699267.Riess H. (2017).The Science of Empathy.J Patient Exp.4(2):74-77. doi: 10.1177/2374373517699267

Acevedo BP, Aron EN, Aron A, Sangster M, Collins N, Brown LL.The highly sensitive brain: an fMRI study of sensory processing sensitivity and response to others’ emotions.Brain and Behavior. 2014;4(4):580-594. doi:10.1002/brb3.242Jeon H, Lee SH.From neurons to social beings: short review of the mirror neuron system research and its socio-psychological and psychiatric implications.Clin Psychopharmacol Neurosci. 2018;16(1):18-31. doi:10.9758/cpn.2018.16.1.18

Jeon H, Lee SH.From neurons to social beings: short review of the mirror neuron system research and its socio-psychological and psychiatric implications.Clin Psychopharmacol Neurosci. 2018;16(1):18-31. doi:10.9758/cpn.2018.16.1.18

Argye E. Hillis, Inability to empathize: brain lesions that disrupt sharing and understanding another’s emotions,Brain, Volume 137, Issue 4, April 2014, Pages 981–997,https://doi.org/10.1093/brain/awt317Blair R. J. R. (2018). Traits of empathy and anger: implications for psychopathy and other disorders associated with aggression.Phil. Trans. R. Soc.http://doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2017.0155Klimecki OM, Leiberg S, Ricard M, Singer T. (2014).Differential pattern of functional brain plasticity after compassion and empathy training. Soc Cogn Affect Neurosci. 9(6):873-9. doi: 10.1093/scan/nst060.Riess H. (2017).The Science of Empathy. J Patient Exp. 4(2):74-77. doi: 10.1177/2374373517699267.Riess H. (2017).The Science of Empathy.J Patient Exp.4(2):74-77. doi: 10.1177/2374373517699267

Blair R. J. R. (2018). Traits of empathy and anger: implications for psychopathy and other disorders associated with aggression.Phil. Trans. R. Soc.http://doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2017.0155

Klimecki OM, Leiberg S, Ricard M, Singer T. (2014).Differential pattern of functional brain plasticity after compassion and empathy training. Soc Cogn Affect Neurosci. 9(6):873-9. doi: 10.1093/scan/nst060.

Riess H. (2017).The Science of Empathy. J Patient Exp. 4(2):74-77. doi: 10.1177/2374373517699267.

Riess H. (2017).The Science of Empathy.J Patient Exp.4(2):74-77. doi: 10.1177/2374373517699267

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