You’ve probably heard of the term “empathy,” which refers to a person’s ability to put themselves in another person’s shoes and understand the struggles of other people. If you’re highly empathetic, you may have even been told you’re an empath, meaning you have a unique ability to understand the thoughts, feelings, and experiences of others. A true empath can take on the feelings of other people, to the extent that they experience those things themselves. Here, take the “What Type of Empath Am I?” Quiz. There may be some features that are common to all empaths, but since there are different types of empaths, the specific personality traits may vary.
1. Which one of the following most sounds like you?
A. When a friend or loved one gets hurt, I can physically feel their pain.
B. At times, I get a strong sense about something that is going to happen in the future, and I end up being correct.
C. If my significant other feels sad, I start to feel down in the dumps myself.
2. How do you tend to react if your partner or significant other is angry with you?
A. Sometimes I shut down emotionally, because the anger feels so powerful to me.
B. I can predict what might happen after the argument winds down, so I am able to remain calm.
C. I imagine the sensation of their body growing warm with anger, and I start to feel overheated and physiologically aroused myself.
3. Do you ever have dreams about some sort of event, and the event actually ends up happening in the future?
A. I experience this often! It’s almost as if I can predict the future via my dreams.
B. I may have experienced this once or twice, but most often, I have dreams about someone important in my life, and I find myself having a strong emotional reaction to whatever happens to the person.
C. This isn’t something I usually experience. I have had dreams in which someone I love is physically hurt, and I wake up in pain.
4. Which of the following would be most likely to happen to you?
A. I am afraid to give bad news to a friend, because I will feel their sense of disappointment.
B. I get a sense of who someone is the first time I meet them, without knowing much about their lives.
C. My partner comes home feeling sick, and I start to get a stomach ache myself.
5. Do you feel like you can communicate with animals?
A. I wouldn’t say that I can communicate with animals, but I can tell when my dog is feeling sad, like when I leave the house, and it makes me feel a little sad too.
B. I don’t have a sense that I can communicate with animals, but when I see an animal in pain, it physically hurts me.
C. Yes! I absolutely feel like I am in tune with what animals are feeling, and I have a special ability to understand them.
6. What is your biggest struggle in intimate relationships?
A. I become overwhelmed when my partner shares feelings with me, because I tend to take them on as my own.
B. I tend to lose trust in someone once I get the slightest gut feeling that they may be doing something wrong.
C. I cannot handle when my significant other is sick or hurt, because I tend to feel their pain.
7. What is your best quality in relationships?
A. I am really sensitive toward other people’s feelings, so I usually do not come across as hurtful or offensive.
B. When someone is physically suffering, such as dealing with pain or an illness, I am able to comfort them, because I can imagine exactly how they feel.
C. I am able to foresee what people will need in the future, and I can plan for it to ensure I will meet their needs.
8. Which one of the following statements describes you?
A. When I see someone get severely hurt in a movie, I feel pain in my own body.
B. I have a sixth sense about things that will happen in the future
C. I can scan a room and pick up on what other people are feeling.
9. If your best friend were suffering with severe pain from a back injury, what would you most likely feel?
A. I would be able to feel my friend’s sadness over their loss of physical functioning, and I would begin to take on that sadness as my own.
B. I would get a sharp pain in my back.
C. I would be unsurprised, because I had a premonition in which my friend suffered an injury.
10. Which one of the following is something you’ve experienced frequently?
A. I go from a happy mood to a sad mood almost instantly if someone around me is feeling blue.
B. When someone else describes physical pain, I feel pain in my own body.
C. I feel a sense of connection to plants, animals, and nature.
