Environmental context effects on affective and cognitive empathy in virtual reality

Human interaction invariably occurs within a specific context. Although recent research highlights the role of context for emotion communication, the specific influence of the environmental ambience (the setting's atmosphere) is less understood. This study investigated the influence of positive versus negative ambience on both cognitive (emotion recognition) and affective empathy (emotional mimicry). In a laboratory experiment, 75 participants, wearing head-mounted displays with facial EMG sensors, encountered avatars expressing joy or distress (sadness, anger, and disgust) within either pleasant or unpleasant immersive ambiences. As predicted, mimicry was stronger when the expressed emotion matched the ambience. Furthermore, positive ambience enhanced cognitive empathy for sad and happy expressions. These findings show that the ambience of an encounter significantly shapes our empathetic responses to others within that environment.