The most recent conceptualizations of empathy recognize affective empathy as distinct from cognitive empathy. Consequently, instruments that assess these 2 types of empathy have been developed. Among them, the Questionnaire of Cognitive and Affective Empathy (QCAE) is a particularly promising, relatively new, self-report measure consisting of 31 items. To examine the cross-cultural adaptability of the QCAE, we investigated the psychometric properties of an Italian version in 2 samples and with 2 different formats of administration. Study 1 (n = 407) used archival data collected via paper and pencil; Study 2 (n = 285) used newly collected data, obtained with an online format. In these studies, in addition to the QCAE, 6 other instruments measuring empathy-related constructs (i.e., interpersonal competence, well-being, personality traits, emotion regulation, alexithymia, and emotion recognition) were administered, too. Data analysis focused on factor structure, internal consistency, and convergent validity. The findings of both studies provide support for the cross-cultural applicability of the QCAE, and reveal interesting associations between empathy and the other constructs under examination.

Recently, the Rorschach Performance Assessment System (R-PAS; Meyer, Viglione, Mihura, Erard, & Erdberg, 2011 ) was introduced to overcome some possible limitations of the Comprehensive System (CS; Exner, 2003 ) while continuing its efforts to link Rorschach inferences to their evidence base. An important, technical modification to the scoring system is that R-PAS interpretations are based on both standard scores and complexity-adjusted scores. Two previous U.S. studies reported good to excellent interrater reliability (IRR) for the great majority of R-PAS variables; however, IRR of complexity-adjusted scores has never been investigated. Furthermore, no studies have yet investigated R-PAS IRR in Europe. To extend this literature, we examined R-PAS IRR of Page 1 and Page 2 raw and complexity-adjusted scores with 112 Italian Rorschach protocols. We collected a large sample of both clinical and nonclinical Rorschach protocols, each of which was coded separately by 2 independent raters. Results demonstrated a mean intraclass correlation of .78 (SD = .14) for raw scores and.74 (SD = .14) for complexity-adjusted scores. Overall, for both raw and complexity-adjusted values, most of the variables were characterized by good to excellent IRR.

This study investigated the predictive validity of the ten Rorschach Performance Assessment System (R-PAS) variables from the Stress and Distress domain, by testing whether they predicted increased sympathetic reactivity to a mild, laboratory-induced stress, occurred one week after Rorschach administration. A relatively small student sample (N = 52) contributed to this research: During a first meeting (T1) participants were administered the Rorschach task according to R-PAS guidelines; about one week later (T2) their electrodermal activity (EDA) was recorded during exposure to a mild laboratory stress-inducing task. Based on literature indicating that exposure to stress tends to increase physiological vulnerability/reactivity to stressful situations, we anticipated that Stress and Distress R-PAS variables measured at T1 would positively correlate with increased sympathetic reactivity to stress at T2, as indicated by greater EDA changes from baseline to stress and recovery. Results partially confirmed our hypotheses: The (a) the mean of and (b) the majority of the Stress and Distress R-PAS variables were significantly correlated, in the expected direction, with medium and medium to large effect sizes.

In this article, we hypothesized that in order to feign mental illness, one would need to have empathy and be able to understand other's mental states. To test this hypothesis, we asked 432 healthy volunteers to feign depression, PTSD or schizophrenia while completing a self-report test that measures the severity of the feigned condition's symptoms and the Inventory of Problems -29 (IOP-29). Additionally, all participants were administered a theory of mind (ToM) task and an empathy measure with the request to respond truthfully. Results from a series of linear regression models revealed that higher cognitive empathy is associated with increased symptom endorsement on self-report symptom questionnaires and higher ToM abilities are associated with less credible feigned profiles, especially in the case of feigned depression.

Abstract. This article introduces a new scientific paradigm that might allow the investigation of the neurological correlates of the Rorschach test without using expensive and time consuming tools such as the fMRI or the EEG. Based on the literature on the Mozart effect, we anticipated that preactivation of a given brain network before exposure to the Rorschach cards would associate with the increased production of responses (or determinants) presumed to be associated with that same network. To pilot test this hypothesis, we focused on the postulated link between human movement (M) responses and mirror neuron system (MNS) activity, and investigated whether preactivation of the MNS would associate with the increased production of M responses. Specifically, 30 students were administered a subset of Rorschach cards immediately after watching three short videos aimed at activating the MNS at three different levels (no/low/high activation). Although no statistically significant differences among the three conditions were found, a linear trend in the expected direction (p = .107), with medium effect size (η² = .087) was observed. In addition to providing information on the M response, this article introduces a new scientific paradigm to investigate the neurological correlates of the Rorschach.