Subjectivity in Emotional Perception
Systematic Review on the Influence of Perceiver Characteristics
A. Rokoma (TU Delft - Electrical Engineering, Mathematics and Computer Science)
Sayak Mukherjee – Mentor (TU Delft - Electrical Engineering, Mathematics and Computer Science)
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Abstract
While emotional recognition is a fundamental social skill, individuals often interpret the same emotional expression differently. Previous research has shown that the interpretation of emotional expressions depends strongly on contextual information, yet the role of the perceiver's internal context remains less clearly understood. This study investigates which psychological and cognitive characteristics of human perceivers influence the understanding of others' emotions through audio-visual stimuli. A systematic literature review was conducted to collect findings from experimental studies. A synthesis of 30 experiments indicates that emotional competence and several cognitive characteristics predict greater emotion recognition accuracy. Meanwhile, personality traits and emotional states introduce subjectivity in the forms of background-scene susceptibility, emotional distortions where an individual perceives a feeling absent from the stimulus, and projections where observers attribute their own current feelings or past experiences onto others' expressions.