Processing of observed pupil size modulates perception of sadness and predicts empathy.
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Facial autonomic responses may contribute to emotional communication and reveal individual affective style. In this study, the authors examined how observed pupillary size modulates processing of facial expression, extending the finding that incidentally perceived pupils influence ratings of sadness but not those of happy, angry, or neutral facial expressions. Healthy subjects rated the valence and arousal of photographs depicting facial muscular expressions of sadness, surprise, fear, and disgust. Pupil sizes within the stimuli were experimentally manipulated. Subjects themselves were scored with an empathy questionnaire. Diminishing pupil size linearly enhanced intensity and valence judgments of sad expressions (but not fear, surprise, or disgust). At debriefing, subjects were unaware of differences in pupil size across stimuli. These observations complement an earlier study showing that pupil size directly influences processing of sadness but not other basic emotional facial expressions. Furthermore, across subjects, the degree to which pupil size influenced sadness processing correlated with individual differences in empathy score. Together, these data demonstrate a central role of sadness processing in empathetic emotion and highlight the salience of implicit autonomic signals in affective communication.
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Dilation of pupil size is associated with the perception of positive emotion (e.g. happiness), whereas constriction of the pupil is linked to the perception of negative emotion (e.g. anger, sadness).
“First, pupil size may reflect emotional and physiological states in humans: dilation of pupil size is associated with the perception of positive emotion (e.g. happiness), whereas constriction of the pupil is linked to the perception of negative emotion (e.g. anger, sadness) [33,34].”
From Are dark-eyed dogs favoured by humans? Domestication as a potential driver of iris colour difference between dogs and wolves (2023) · cites this paper as [34]
Humans have a cognitive tendency to perceive emotional arousal based on iris-pupil contrast and make inferences about a person's personality.
“humans have a cognitive tendency to perceive emotional arousal based on iris–pupil contrast and make inferences about a person's personality [33–37].”
From Are dark-eyed dogs favoured by humans? Domestication as a potential driver of iris colour difference between dogs and wolves (2023) · cites this paper as [34]
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- Authors
- Harrison, N. A., Wilson, C. E., & Critchley, H. D.
- Affiliations
- Wellcome Centre for Human Neuroimaging (GB)
- University College London (GB)
- Brighton and Sussex Medical School (GB)
- Venue
- Emotion
- Published
- 2007
- Volume
- 7
- Issue
- 4
- Pages
- 724-729
- ISSN
- 1528-3542 (ISSN-L)
- 1931-1516
- OpenAlex
- W2116642893
- Cited by
- 94
- References
- 32
- Citations by year
- 2025: 2 · 2024: 6 · 2023: 1 · 2022: 10 · 2021: 3 · 2020: 4 · 2019: 8 · 2018: 6 · 2017: 6 · 2016: 7 · 2015: 4 · 2014: 5 · 2013: 8 · 2012: 4
- FWCI
- 2.33
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- figshare.com
- Licence
- cc-by
- Locations
- Emotion (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- UCL Discovery (University College London) (submittedVersion)
- Figshare (submittedVersion, cc-by)
- ORCA Online Research @Cardiff (Cardiff University) (submittedVersion)
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Face Recognition and Perception
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Evolutionary Psychology and Human Behavior
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Emotions and Moral Behavior
- Keywords
- pupil size, facial expression perception, sadness, empathy, emotional valence, emotional arousal, individual differences, emotional communication
- MeSH terms
- Adult, Affect, Autonomic Nervous System, Empathy, Facial Expression, Female, Humans, Male, Pupil, Unconscious, Psychology, Visual Perception
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