A new test to measure emotion recognition ability: Matsumoto and Ekman's Japanese and Caucasian Brief Affect Recognition Test (JACBART)

In this article, we report the development of a new test designed to measur e individual differences in emotion recognition ability (ERA), five studies examining the reliability and validity of the scores produced using this t est, and the first evidence for a correlation between ERA measured by a sta ndardized test and personality. Utilizing Matsumoto and Ekman's (1988) Japa nese and Caucasian Facial Expressions of Emotion (JACFEE) and Neutral Faces (JACNeuF), we call this measure the Japanese and Caucasian Brief Affect Re cognition Test (JACBART). The JACBART improves on previous measures of ERA by (1) using expressions that have substantial validity and reliability dat a associated with them, (2) including posers of two visibly different races (3) balanced across seven universal emotions (4) with equal distribution o f poser race and sex across emotions (5) in a format that eliminates afteri mages associated with fast exposures. Scores derived using the JACBART are reliable, and three studies demonstrated a correlation between ERA and the personality constructs of Openness and Conscientiousness, while one study r eports a correlation with Extraversion and Neuroticism.