Validity and factorial invariance of the Interpersonal Reactivity Index in Peruvian university students

The Interpersonal Reactivity Index (IRI) is one of the most used self-report measures in young people and adults to measure empathy, it considers cognitive and affective aspects in its composition. This research presents the structural validity, invariance and reliability of the measure in Peruvian university students. 859 psychology students, between 17 and 39 years old, from two universities in Metropolitan Lima were intentionally selected. The confirmatory factor analysis performed on three models: Model 1, replicates the original structure, Model 2, analyzes the original structure, but negatively worded items and model 3 were excluded, inverse items and those with irrelevant variance were excluded. construct (item 9). This last model is the one with the best fit (CFI = .924; RMSEA = .091; SRMR = 0.058). On this model, the configurational, metric, scalar and residual invariance according to age was established. In addition, a second order model was tested that demonstrated the presence of the latent factors Cognitive Empathy and Emotional Reactions, this model presents an adequate fit (CFI = .957; RMSEA = .078; SRMR = 0.068). It is concluded that the reduced version of the IRI is a valid and reliable measure in Peruvian university students.