Further validation of the Digital Communication Empathy Scale (DCES)

This investigation further examined the validity of the Digital Communication Empathy Scale (DCES), a measure of empathy as it is experienced within the context of digital communication (“digital empathy”). Data were gathered across three studies during 2020 and 2021. In Studies 1 (American MTurk workers; N = 418; 200 females; Mage = 42.38; SDage = 12.76 years) and 2 (Australian undergraduate psychology students; N = 491; 360 female; Mage = 20.02; SDage = 4.61 years), construct validity and incremental validity were assessed by examining relationships between the DCES subscales and measures of online pro- and anti-social behaviors. DCES subscales were positively related to online prosocial behaviors, demonstrating construct validity, and displayed incremental validity over existing measures of empathy when predicting online prosocial behaviors. DCES subscales showed similar relationships with online antisocial behavior as did existing empathy scales, further demonstrating construct validity. However, DCES subscales did not show incremental validity with these antisocial behaviors. Study 3 (American MTurk workers; N = 133; 67 female; Mage = 43.38; SDage = 11.6 years) assessed the test-retest reliability of the DCES across a two-month interval, with the DCES demonstrating moderate to good reliability across that time-period. This paper further demonstrates the validity and reliability of the DCES as a measure of digital empathy.