The role of emotion recognition in empathy.

In the present investigation, we document the association between multimodal emotion recognition and state and trait empathy. We assessed participants' (N = 342) capacities for emotion recognition-across 13 emotions expressed in the face, voice, and body-as well as their state- and trait-like empathic tendencies. Emotion recognition accuracy predicted greater state-like empathic responses to targets' expressions of emotions, as evident in higher reports of emotion-specific shared emotion and sympathy. Emotion recognition accuracy also predicted validated self-report measures of trait-like empathy, providing further evidence for the critical role of emotion recognition in empathy. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2025 APA, all rights reserved).