Clients in Simulated Teletherapy via Videoconference Compensate for Altered Eye Contact When Evaluating Therapist Empathy
Open accessAbstract
Eye contact is frequently associated with an increased perception of empathy and telepresence, but the currently used videoconferencing (VC) technologies diminish the possibility of naturally conveying eye contact. This study compared the empathy, telepresence, and eye gaze patterns of clients in simulated VC teletherapy sessions where eye contact was altered or facilitated. Forty-two would-be clients met with one of four therapists in training for one 20-min simulated teletherapy session taking place via VC. The session either altered or facilitated eye contact perception by manipulating the positioning of the webcams and of the clients in their chair. Eye-tracking data focusing on the eyes, face, and general body regions of interest were obtained for 25 clients. The results show that facilitating eye contact in VC did not increase the clients’ perceptions of empathy or telepresence. However, empathy was associated with greater time spent looking at the eyes and faces of the therapists, but only in the sessions facilitating eye contact. We suggest that clients successfully rely on other verbal and nonverbal cues to detect therapist empathy when eye contact is altered in teletherapy sessions.
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Altered eye contact in VCP may not be as detrimental as previously believed for the perception of empathy from a psychotherapist.
“For example, Grondin et al. [93] reported that altered eye contact in VCP may not be as detrimental as previously believed for the perception of empathy from a psychotherapist.”
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Self-citation
- Authors
- Grondin, F., Lomanowska, A. M., Poiré, V., & Jackson, P. L.
- Affiliations
- Université Laval (CA)
- University Health Network (CA)
- Corresponding author
- Jackson, Philip L.
- Venue
- Journal of Clinical Medicine
- Publisher
- MDPI AG
- Published
- 2022-06-16
- Volume
- 11
- Issue
- 12
- Pages
- 3461
- ISSN
- 2077-0383 (ISSN-L)
- PMC
- PMC9224913
- OpenAlex
- W4283067753
- Cited by
- 9
- References
- 30
- Citations by year
- 2026: 1 · 2025: 2 · 2024: 3 · 2023: 2 · 2022: 1
- FWCI
- 1.77
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- gold
- doi.org
- Licence
- Locations
- Journal of Clinical Medicine (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Funders
- the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) (RGPIN-2019-06715)
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health › Telemedicine and Telehealth Implementation
- Physical Sciences › Computer Science › Human-Computer Interaction › Virtual Reality Applications and Impacts
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Psychotherapy Techniques and Applications
- Keywords
- external beam radiotherapy, videoconferencing, eye contact, therapist empathy, perceived empathy, telepresence, gaze patterns, eye tracking, nonverbal cues
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