Human empathy can even extend to dogs:Empathetic people interpret dogs' facial expressions more intensely. A new study examined how empathy and other psychological factors influence people's evaluations of facial images of dogs and people. The results show for the first time that human empathy, or the ability to share someone else's feelings or experiences, also influences the perception of dogs' facial expressions.
Based on previous results, the researchers knew that people with higher emotional empathy evaluated other people's expressions faster, more accurately, and often more intensely. But it could also be that they over-interpret dogs' utterances, the researcher said. “Empathy accelerates and intensifies assessment of canine facial expressions, but determining the accuracy of such assessments is currently unreliable.”
Humans judge happy faces more intensely in humans than in dogs. The researchers suggest this may be caused by a tendency to find one's own species' face more pleasing. On the other hand, one may find it difficult to recognize happiness in dogs based on their facial expression. This is indicated by the fact that people with experience in dog training see the happy expressions of dogs as happier than others did.
