Mentalizing Shapes Affective Inference from Biological Motion

Human movement provides a perceptual basis for social cognition by offering cues perceivers use toinfer internal states. Prior work shows that even minimal movements of simple geometric displays canelicit attributions of emotion and intent. Less is known, however, about whether mentalizing abilityenhances the accuracy of inferences from biological motion. The present study addressed this questionby asking participants to rate point-light motions of anger, fear, and happiness on valence and arousalwithout being told the movements expressed emotion. Ratings were mapped into circumplex space(Russell, 1980), and accuracy was quantified as the angular distance between participants’ responsesand the theoretical ideals for each emotion. Results showed that higher mentalizing ability wasassociated with reduced angular distance overall, with effects strongest for anger. These findingsdemonstrate that while movement provides a basis for affective inference, its accuracy depends onmentalizing ability and emotion type.