Are You A Dog Lover? Chances Are You Can Interpret A Facial Expression Faster!

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Recently, a recent study reveals that empathetic people decipher the dog's facial expression more strongly than those who are not. Researchers suggest that those humans can interpret a dogs' facial expressions in the same way as the human's. Empathy itself also makes the person evaluate the dog's emotional through its face, more quickly.

The study, located at the University of Helsinki and Aalto University, found that emphatic people are able to recognize the aggressive facial expressions by dogs and viewed it as more intense compared to the same aggressive human expressions. However, the dog's happy facial expressions are less intense than of the humans. The researchers believe that it may be because a human can find its own species' impression to be more pleasant, as Phys.Org reported.

However, Daily Mail Online reported that dog trainers and other people who have dealt with dogs are better at assessing the dog's happy facial expression more quickly. "Empathy affected assessments of dogs' facial expressions even more than previous experience of dogs, probably because the face is a biologically important stimulus for humans," University of Helsinki's post-doctoral researcher Dr. Miiamaaria Kujala says. "Our earlier studies have showed, however, that when considering the entire body language of dogs, previous experience of dogs increases in importance."

Dr. Kujala also suggested that there's a possibility that people are just exaggerating their interpretation with a dog's facial expression. She said that empathy quickens and intensifies the interpretation of a dog's facial expression, however, its accuracy is still unreliable.

The study was conducted by asking 34 participants to rate basic emotions such as anger, disgust, fear, happiness, sadness, and surprise from dogs and humans' face with pleasant, neutral, and aggressive facial expressions. It also covered the participant;s empathy levels, personal traits, and experience with dog behaviors that affects their assessments.