Lin Tong, Simon Jeremy C, Gutsell Jennifer N
Brandeis University.
Museum of Science.
Res Sq. 2024 Jan 16:rs.3.rs-3858053. doi: 10.21203/rs.3.rs-3858053/v1.
Empathic accuracy, the ability to accurately represent and understand another's emotional state, is integral to socio-emotional functioning. It is also inherently an interpersonal process that requires active engagement of the emotional systems of both interaction partners. The emotional expressivity of the partner sharing their emotions restricts empathic accuracy and the perceiver's emotional expressivity might also affect empathic accuracy as they behaviorally simulate and thus share the emotions they see in the other's face. We explored a potential role of emotional expressivity in people's ability to understand another's emotions in a face-to-face dyadic interaction. Participants took turns sharing emotional experiences while their facial expressions were recorded. They then watched the recordings while continuously rating their own and their partner's affect at any given point during the recording. Empathic accuracy was indexed as the epoch by-epoch emotion change detection. We found that emotional expressivity of the listener, but not of the partner, was associated with increased empathic accuracy, even when controlling for partner's expressivity. Our findings highlight the active role the person empathizing takes in face-to-face emotional sharing.
共情准确性，即准确呈现和理解他人情绪状态的能力，是社会情感功能的重要组成部分。它本质上也是一个人际过程，需要互动双方的情感系统积极参与。分享情绪的一方的情绪表达会限制共情准确性，而感知者的情绪表达也可能影响共情准确性，因为他们会通过行为模拟，进而分享在对方脸上看到的情绪。我们探讨了情绪表达在人们面对面二元互动中理解他人情绪能力方面的潜在作用。参与者轮流分享情感经历，同时记录他们的面部表情。然后，他们观看录像，同时在录像过程中的任何给定时刻持续对自己和对方的情感进行评分。共情准确性通过逐时段的情绪变化检测来衡量。我们发现，即使在控制了对方的表达能力后，倾听者而非分享者的情绪表达与更高的共情准确性相关。我们的研究结果凸显了共情者在面对面情感分享中所起的积极作用。
