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Accurate inferences of others' thoughts depend on where they stand on the empathic trait continuum

Wu, Wenjie; Mitchell, Peter

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Authors

Wenjie Wu

Peter Mitchell



Abstract

This research explores the possibility that a person's (perceiver's) prospects of making a correct inference of another person's (target's) inner states depends on the personal characteristics of the target, potentially relating to how readable they are. Twenty-seven targets completed the Empathy Quotient (EQ) and were classified as having low, average or high EQ. They were unobtrusively videoed while thinking of an event of happiness, gratitude, anger and sadness. After observing targets thinking of such a past event, fifty-two perceivers (participants) in Study 1 were asked to infer what the target was thinking, and fifty perceivers in Study 2 were asked to rate the target's expression – positive or negative. Results suggested that (1) perceivers' accuracy in detecting targets' thoughts depended on which EQ group the target belonged to, and (2) target readability is not a proxy measure for level of target expressiveness. In other words, something about EQ status renders targets more or less easy to read in a way that is not simply explained by expressive people being more readable. We conclude with discussion of the importance of the target's trait as well as situation they experience in determining how accurately a perceiver might infer their inner states.

Citation

Wu, W., & Mitchell, P. (2019). Accurate inferences of others' thoughts depend on where they stand on the empathic trait continuum. Personality and Individual Differences, 148, 110-116. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2019.05.025

Journal Article Type Article
Acceptance Date May 17, 2019
Online Publication Date May 29, 2019
Publication Date Oct 1, 2019
Deposit Date Jun 3, 2019
Publicly Available Date Mar 29, 2024
Journal Personality and Individual Differences
Print ISSN 0191-8869
Publisher Elsevier
Peer Reviewed Peer Reviewed
Volume 148
Pages 110-116
DOI https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2019.05.025
Keywords Mindreading; Retrodiction; Accuracy; Empathic trait; Spontaneous behaviour
Public URL https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/2130240
Publisher URL https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0191886919303150
Additional Information This article is maintained by: Elsevier; Article Title: Accurate inferences of others' thoughts depend on where they stand on the empathic trait continuum; Journal Title: Personality and Individual Differences; CrossRef DOI link to publisher maintained version: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2019.05.025; Content Type: article; Copyright: © 2019 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

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