Title: Empathy ability and emotion perception of people with visual disabilities

Authors: Hyung Nam Kim

Addresses: Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering, North Carolina A&T State University, Greensboro, NC 27411, USA

Abstract: As people with visual disabilities have poor visual acuity, they significantly rely on vocal expressions of emotions in recognising and understanding emotions in other people, e.g., empathy. However, there is little understanding of individual differences in emotion perception and empathy abilities among people with visual disabilities. To address the knowledge gap, a convenience sample of 30 people with visual disabilities reported their perceived emotions when given various emotional stimuli of speech and completed the interpersonal reactivity index to report their empathy abilities in terms of perspective taking, empathic concern, personal distress, and fantasy. The participants showed statistically significant individual differences in emotion perception and empathy abilities for various emotions. The research findings could serve as foundational knowledge, contributing to developing adequate interventions to help those with visual disabilities to better manage emotional stress, promote emotional wellness, and construct healthy relationships with others.

Keywords: interpersonal reactivity index; IRI; emotional wellness; emotional ergonomics.

DOI: 10.1504/IJHFE.2024.139177

International Journal of Human Factors and Ergonomics, 2024 Vol.11 No.2, pp.157 - 171

Received: 14 Apr 2023
Accepted: 13 Jan 2024
Published online: 24 Jun 2024 *

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