The Relationship Between Accuracy of Facial Emotion Recognition, Perceived Empathic Ability

251 Pages·2017·1.9 MB·English

University of Northern Colorado
Scholarship & Creative Works @ Digital UNC
Dissertations Student Research
7-6-2016
The Relationship Between Accuracy of Facial
Emotion Recognition, Perceived Empathic Ability,
and Cognitive Ability in Domestic Violence
Offenders
Blair Nicole Nyline
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Recommended Citation
Nyline, Blair Nicole, "The Relationship Between Accuracy of Facial Emotion Recognition, Perceived Empathic Ability, and Cognitive
Ability in Domestic Violence Offenders" (2016).Dissertations. 349.
http://digscholarship.unco.edu/dissertations/349
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© 2016

BLAIR NYLINE

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
UNIVERSITY OF NORTHERN COLORADO

Greeley, Colorado

The Graduate School

THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN ACCURACY OF FACIAL
EMOTION RECOGNITION, PERCEIVED EMPATHIC
ABILITY, AND COGNITIVE ABILITY IN
DOMESTIC VIOLENCE OFFENDERS

A Dissertation Submitted in Partial Fulfillment
of the Requirements of the Degree of
Doctor of Philosophy

Blair Nyline

College of Education and Behavioral Sciences
Department of Applied Psychology and Counselor Education
Counseling Psychology

July 2016
This Dissertation by: Blair Nyline

Entitled: The Relationship Between Accuracy of Facial Emotion Recognition, Perceived
Empathic Ability, and Cognitive Ability in Domestic Violence Offenders

has been approved as meeting the requirement for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy in
College of Education and Behavioral Sciences in Department of Applied Psychology and
Counselor Education, Program of Counseling Psychology

Accepted by the Doctoral Committee

____________________________________________________
Basilia Softas-Nall, Ph.D., Research Advisor

____________________________________________________
Jeffrey Rings, Ph.D., Committee Member

____________________________________________________
Jennifer Murdock-Bishop, Ph.D., Committee Member

____________________________________________________
Eric Peterson, Ph.D., Faculty Representative

Date of Dissertation Defense .

Accepted by the Graduate School

____________________________________________________________
Linda L. Black, Ed.D.
Associate Provost and Dean
Graduate School and International Admissions
ABSTRACT
Nyline, Blair. The Relationship Between Accuracy of Facial Emotion Recognition,
Perceived Empathic Ability, and Cognitive Ability in Domestic Violence
Offenders. Published Doctor of Philosophy dissertation, University of Northern
Colorado, 2016.

The inability to decode emotional cues has been associated with violence in men.
The purpose of the study was to learn more about the connection between emotion
recognition accuracy as it related to self-identified empathy in adult men convicted of a
domestic violence offense while accounting for any significant cognitive deficits and
demographic factors. Domestically violent (n = 35) and non-violent (n = 35) men were
asked to label pictures of facial emotion at different levels of intensity (30.0%, 40.0%,
60.0%, 70.0%, and 100.0%). In addition, they were given the Interpersonal Reactivity
Index (IRI), a brief empathy measure; the General Ability Measure for Adults (GAMA),
a brief cognitive assessment; the Life Events Checklist-5 (LEC-5), a trauma
questionnaire; and a demographic questionnaire. The domestic violence offenders were
found to have a significant deficit in identifying the emotions of sadness and fear and
identifying emotions at 40.0% and 60.0% intensity. They were found to have a
significantly higher self-reported empathy rating on the IRI subscale of perceived
distress, but no significant differences were found between domestic violence offenders
and non-violent controls on empathy subscales of perspective taking, empathic concern,
and fantasy. There was no significant difference in cognitive ability between the domestic
violence offenders and the control participants. When highest education level attained
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and family annual income were accounted for, they were found to have a significant
impact on the ability to accurately identify emotions. When lifetime trauma history and
chemical dependence history were accounted for, they were found to have no statistically
significant impact on ability to accurately identify emotions. Clinical implications
included a greater focus on applied emotion recognition and emotion regulation training
for domestic violence offenders. Methodological implications and future research
directions were discussed.

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
I’ve heard writing a dissertation takes a village. That could not be more true and I
would like to thank my village. First and foremost, I would like to thank all of my
participants for taking time out of their busy lives for the advancement of this important
research. I would like to thank all of the domestic violence treatment agencies and
providers who let me recruit from their agencies and interrupt their treatment groups.
Thank you to all of my colleagues and friends who recruited control participants on my
behalf.
I would like to thank my committee for all of their support and guidance. Dr.
Softas, my dissertation committee chair, you were an irreplaceable resource. Dr.
Peterson, thank you for all of your resources and guidance. Dr. Rings, thank you for all of
your kind words and support through this process. Dr. Jones, thank you for being there at
the beginning and Dr. Murdock-Bishop, thank you for stepping in when I needed you.
Thank you Mackenzie for all of your help with the emotion recognition task.
Luke, if I were to list all of the ways I was thankful for you and all you have done
for me these past few years, it would take up several pages. Instead I offer a simple
heartfelt thank you with the hope you can feel the weight behind the words. To all of my
family and friends, I thank you for your endless generosity with your time, patience,
support, and resources. Last, but definitely not least, I would like to thank my cohort.
Janae, Jason, Tanya, and Dylan, I would not have made it without you. We did it!
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TABLE OF CONTENTS

CHAPTER
I. INTRODUCTION .......................................................................................1

Background 1
Overview and Purpose of Study ..................................................................6
Theoretical Perspectives ............................................................................11

Empathy .........................................................................................11
Social Information Processing .......................................................12

Research Questions ....................................................................................13
Limitations…… .........................................................................................14
Definition of Terms....................................................................................16
Summary…….. ..........................................................................................21

II. REVIEW OF RELEVANT LITERATURE ..............................................23

Introduction….. ..........................................................................................23
Domestic Violence Offenders ....................................................................25

Theories of Domestic Violence .....................................................28

Feminist theory ..................................................................28
Systems theory ...................................................................30
Social learning theory ........................................................31
Psychopathological models ................................................32
Social information processing............................................37

Current Domestic Violence Treatment ..........................................40

Duluth Model .....................................................................40
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy ...........................................42

Critiques .........................................................................................42

Empathy……… .........................................................................................43

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CHAPTER
II. continued

Measures of Empathy ................................................................................48

Empathy Assessment Index ...........................................................48
Empathy Quotient ..........................................................................49
Interpersonal Reactivity Index .......................................................50

Facial Emotion Recognition Tasks ............................................................51
Nonverbal Cognitive Assessments ............................................................59

Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale--Fourth Edition .......................60
Comprehensive Test of Nonverbal Intelligence--Second
Edition ................................................................................62
General Ability Measure for Adults ..............................................64

Empathy in Domestic Violence Offenders ................................................65
Summary……. ...........................................................................................66

III.V RESEARCH DESIGN AND PROCEDURES ..........................................69

Research Design.........................................................................................70
Participants…… .........................................................................................70
Instrumentation ..........................................................................................71

Demographics Questionnaire .........................................................71
Life Events Checklist-5..................................................................71
Interpersonal Reactivity Index .......................................................72
General Ability Measure for Adults ..............................................74
Emotion Recognition Items ...........................................................76

Procedure……. ..........................................................................................78
Hypotheses……. ........................................................................................81
Data Analysis….. .......................................................................................84
Summary……. ...........................................................................................91

IV. DATA ANALYSIS AND RESULTS ........................................................92

Introduction….. ..........................................................................................92
Description of Sample................................................................................92
Hypotheses Results ..................................................................................100

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CHAPTER
IV. continued

Research Question Q1..................................................................101

Hypothesis H1 ..................................................................101
Hypothesis H2 ..................................................................101
Hypothesis H3 ..................................................................102
Hypothesis H4 ..................................................................102
Hypothesis H5 ..................................................................102

Research Question Q2..................................................................103

Hypothesis H6 ..................................................................103
Hypothesis H7 ..................................................................104
Hypothesis H8 ..................................................................105
Hypothesis H9 ..................................................................105

Research Question Q3..................................................................106

Hypothesis H10 ................................................................106
Hypothesis H11 ................................................................106
Hypothesis H12 ................................................................107

Research Question Q4..................................................................110

Hypothesis H13 ................................................................110
Hypothesis H14 ................................................................110

Summary…….. ........................................................................................111

V. DISCUSSION AND IMPLICATIONS OF RESEARCH .......................115

Introduction….. ........................................................................................115
Discussion of the Results .........................................................................118
Summary of Results .................................................................................125
Implications and Future Directions ..........................................................127

Theoretical Implications ..............................................................127
Methodological Implications .......................................................135
Clinical Implications ....................................................................141

Limitations and Recommendations for Future Study ..............................148
Conclusion…… .......................................................................................151

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