The eyes in which a tear and a smile strove ever for the mastery were of the dimensions of a cauliflower
Emotion recognition, a core component of emotional intelligence, is the general ability to recognize emotions. […]
For decades, researchers have known that skill in emotion recognition predicts positive outcomes in a wide range of contexts. From business executives to foreign service officers to elementary school principals, studies have shown a positive association between skill in emotion recognition and success in a wide variety of educational, workplace, or organizational contexts. Sensitivity to the internal states of colleagues, note the authors, can assist in coordinating activities and working independently. Emotion recognition, however, is a complex skill.
A person can express emotion by voice tones, facial expressions, body movements, or a combination of these “channels.” Each channel or combination can communicate a number of different emotions. […] Our facial expressions are, according to published research, highly controllable, express the information we choose to communicate, and as a result, “this information is more subject to impression management.” Emotion information conveyed through body movement or voice channels, however, may provide, according to the authors, a truer window into a person’s feelings. The ability to control the expression of emotion through these channels is more difficult, and requires more effort. […]
Emotion recognition is about reading social cues. The researchers label this skill “nonverbal eavesdropping.” […] Some people have problems when they lack the ability to read social cues around them. The study authors noted that some people have a different kind of problem with emotion recognition: They have the potential to “read too much” in a particular situation. […]
Sadness was the easiest emotion to recognize and fear the most difficult;
Accuracy did not differ across positive versus negative emotions;
Accuracy varied by channel, with emotions easier to recognize through facial photographs than vocal tone;
Anger and fear were more easier to recognize in the voice;
Happiness and sadness were relatively easier to recognize in the face;
Emotional eavesdropping ability varied significantly across emotions, with anger and fear were more easily eavesdropped than happiness or sadness;
artwork { Pablo Picasso, Femme étendue lisant, 1952 }
