Emotional Expression: Novel Measures and Relation to Emotion Recognition in Schizotypy

Abstract

This study investigated emotional expression and emotion recognition in a psychometric schizotypy sample of individuals with subclinical traits which are related to psychotic disorders. Both emotional expression and emotion recognition have been observed to be diminished in schizotypy, although there is conflicting evidence when considering of multiple studies. Using a novel measure of emotional expression that relies upon observation informed by objective criteria as well as utilizing facial recognition software, the study proposes three main hypotheses: 1) Emotion recognition skill will be poorer and the frequency and average magnitude of emotional expression will be lower in the schizotypy group compared to the non-schizotypy group; 2) Facial recognition software will demonstrate high convergent validity with the observational measure; 3) Emotion recognition skill will be positively correlated with levels of emotional expression, as measured by observer ratings and software, in both schizotypy and nonschizotypy groups. For each of these hypotheses, there is no expected variation with regards to any specific basic emotion (happiness, sadness, surprise, fear, anger, or disgust), and tests will determine if this prediction is supported. Participants with schizotypy (n = 17) and without (n =14) completed an emotion recognition measure and a semi-structured interview which was video recorded. This video was processed through both measures. Data analysis is still in process, with preliminary results showing small differences between groups in emotional expression for negative affect only.