Perceiving and expressing feelings through actions in relation to individual differences in empathic traits: the Action and Feelings Questionnaire (AFQ).

Justin H G Williams,Emma Ross,Isobel M Cameron,Gordon D Waiter,Lieke Braadbaart

doi:10.3758/s13415-015-0386-z

Abstract

Empathy is usually conceived of as independent of the non-verbal behaviors which mediate its experience, though embodied cognition theory predicts that individual differences in action representation will affect empathic traits. The “Actions and Feelings Questionnaire” (AFQ) was designed to capture individual differences in self-awareness of own and others’ actions, particularly those associated with feelings, which we predicted would correlate with levels of empathic traits. A pilot 30-item questionnaire included items on perceptual sensitivity to action, imitation, action imagery, and gestural and facial expression. It was completed by a sample of 278 adults (mean age 21.2 years; 189 females, 89 males) along with the 15-item Empathic Quotient (EQ) Questionnaire. Total scores on the final 18-item questionnaire showed strong internal coherence (Cronbach’s alpha of 0.81) and test-retest reliability (ICC=0.88), marked effect of sex and highly significant correlation with EQ. The questionnaire was administered to participants in an fMRI study investigating the neural correlates of facial imitation. Total AFQ score correlated with activity in somatosensory cortex, insula, anterior cingulate, and visual cortex. The AFQ shows promise as a brief and simple self-report measure sensitive to variability in the self-awareness of actions associated with feelings. It suggests that much of the variability of empathic traits in typical populations is accounted for by variance in this capacity. We suggest that being more empathic really is about being “touchy-feely,” and this questionnaire provides a novel measure of action-based empathy.

Highlights

Nonverbal communication is critical to social functioning
Looking at the functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) data, we found significant positive correlations between total AFQ and activity during Imitation compared to Mismatch in the sensorimotor cortex, insula, and anterior cingulate, and the visual cortex
All three scales showed negative correlations with activity in the Fusiform gyrus. The results of this analysis revealed a relationship between AFQ total score and activity in the network of somatosensory cortex, insula, and anterior cingulate during imitation compared to an instruction condition

Summary

Introduction

Nonverbal communication is critical to social functioning. It includes the regulation of eye contact, facial expression of emotion, and use of gesture. Intact social communicative abilities and in particular, the communication of emotion, require skills in expression and sensitivity to their enactment by others. We recently conducted a study investigating the neural correlates of facial imitation accuracy (Braadbaart et al, 2014), in which volunteers were asked to imitate a range of facial expressions. The task differs from other facial imitation tasks in placing high demands on the capacity for control over the facial expression of emotion. In the fMRI study, we compared activity during the imitation task with a control condition, where participants executed a predetermined facial action according to instruction. We hypothesized that the relationship between AFQ score and EQ might be mediated by common reliance on these regions

Methods

Results

Conclusion