Empath Test: Are You An Empath? I Psych Central

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SubscribeEmpath TestMedically reviewed by Nicole Washington, DO, MPH — Written by Ari Howard MA EdM — Updated on May 22, 2025

• Who is it for?
• Is it accurate?
• FAQs

When you see someone in distress, do you feel emotional? Do you feel as if you’re experiencing their pain? If your answer is yes, you could be an empath, or at least partially an empath. Take this quiz to find out.

Assess your level of empathy and whether you may or may not be an empath with this quiz.

This quiz can’t replace a clinical diagnosis. If you believe you might have a mental health condition after taking this test, consider reaching out to a qualified professional about your symptoms.

People experience empathy to varying degrees. Some may be incredibly empathetic in some ways but have trouble being empathetic in others.

Other people might be considered to have “dark empathy” because they can identify what you feel and use it to their advantage.

This is because there are three different types of empathy, and just because you’re highly empathetic in one category doesn’t necessarily mean you’re empathetic in the other two categories.

In a few cases, people can also have low or no empathy.

The three empathetic categories include:

• Cognitive empathy: the ability to identify how someone else is feeling
• Emotional empathy: being able to feel someone else’s emotions
• Compassionate empathy: actively wanting to help someone in need

A full empath has developed skills in all three categories. But scoring low in each category doesn’t mean that you can’t develop skills to be more empathetic in the future.

If you’d like to increase your empathy, you can speak with a mental health professional. They can provide tools and strategies to help you cultivate empathy.

Who is this quiz for?

This brief, time-saving quiz is designed for anyone who wants to learn more about their empathy levels.

Your score will help you determine if you may be an empath and to what degree.

Is it accurate? 

The results of this quiz are not a diagnosis of a mental health condition. But people who score low on the empath quiz may find it helpful to speak with a mental health professional to help develop their empathy skills.

The empath quiz can help you determine how much growth you may still want to do in this area.

Frequently asked questions

How can I tell if I’m an empath?

There’s no definitive test to determine if you’re an empath.

No medical or mental health professional can provide a formal diagnosis of being an empath, as it is not a recognized condition in the fifth edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders.

That said, people who may be empaths may possess one or more of the following characteristics:

• you feel drained when exposed to intense emotions
• you avoid emotionally impactful media
• you’re naturally the person everyone confides in
• you’re compelled to practice compassion in everyday life
• you have strong, often correct, intuition
• you dislike crowds
• you regularly feel burned out
• you experience emotions without knowing why
• you express deep emotion, like tears, in response to someone else’s story

How many types of empaths are there?

There isn’t a specific number of empaths because being an empath isn’t a clinical condition. Some claim that up to 14 types of empaths may exist.

Three of the most commonly referred to types of empaths include:

• emotional
• physical
• intuitive

Other types of empaths may include:

• telepathic
• animal
• plant
• dream
• psychometric
• molecular
• earth
• indigo
• precognitive
• psychic
• Heyoka

How does an empath love?

Because an empath may feel more emotion and be better at empathizing than others, they may love more intensely or passionately.

However, it’s impossible to say if an empath will love someone more than someone who isn’t an empath, as everyone expresses love and emotion differently, and love is not quantifiable.

 

FEEDBACK:Medically reviewed by Nicole Washington, DO, MPH — Written by Ari Howard MA EdM — Updated on May 22, 2025

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