Individual differences in empathy: The role of facial expression recognition

We investigated individual differences in empathy and emotion recognition. Emotion recognition was operationalized as accuracy on the six emotions composing Ekman’s Pictures of Facial Affect. Facets of empathy were measured with the Empathy Quotient (EQ) and the empathic concern factor of the Interpersonal Reactivity Scale. Two aspects of emotion recognition were investigated: exposure length (50 ms and 2000 ms) and emotion type (fear). Both empathic concern and the EQ were related to accuracy at the brief exposure, however empathic concern accounted for the EQ findings. The EQ was connected to accuracy at the long duration, especially the “social skills” factor. Empathic concern was unrelated to fear recognition, whereas the EQ was highly related. These findings extend previous research by showing that empathy subtype predispositions are differentially related to expression recognition.