ABSTRACT
Research on empathy frequently distinguishes between affective and cognitive empathy, but there is limited knowledge regarding the application of these two dimensions of empathy to forensic samples of incarcerated youth offenders. The main aim of this study was to examine the potential correlates of the Basic Empathy Scale (BES) among a Portuguese sample of youth offenders (n = 270: 216 males, 54 females). Results showed that males scored significantly lower than females on affective and cognitive empathy. Furthermore, males and females tended to present somewhat different patterns of correlations and partial correlations with some commonly used forensic psychometric measures (e.g. psychopathic traits, narcissism) and criminal and clinical variables (e.g. crime seriousness, conduct disorder symptoms). Our findings suggest that the BES is a useful and promising measure in the study of empathy among justice-involved youths.
