Ansiktsuttrycket säger mer än ord. Är emotionell smitta via ansiktsuttryck det första steget mot empati

The hypotheses were based on conceiving of automatic mimicking as involved in emotional empathy. Mimicry reactions (EMG) in high- and low-empathy subjects were studied when subjects were exposed to pictures of angry or happy faces. The degree of correspondence between subjects’ facial EMG reactions and their self-reported feelings was compared. The comparisons were made at different stimulus exposure times in order to elicit reactions at different levels of information processing. The high-empathy subjects were found to have a higher degree of mimicking behavior than the low-empathy subjects at short exposure times (17 – 40 milliseconds) and they showed a higher correspondence between facial expressions and self-reported feelings