A scoping review of empathic accuracy

Empathic accuracy refers to the ability to correctly infer the thoughts and feelings of others as they unfold in real time. Although widely studied across psychology, neuroscience, and clinical science, the literature is fragmented due to diverse conceptualizations, measurement approaches, and research contexts. This scoping review provides the first comprehensive synthesis of studies using the two paradigms with the highest construct validity for measuring empathic accuracy: the Ickes paradigms, which assess accuracy for discrete thought-feeling content, and the Dial paradigm, which captures continuous affective inferences. Following PRISMA-ScR guidelines, we identified 172 empirical studies published through September 2022 that used either paradigm. Studies were coded for theoretical focus, design and task characteristics, participant and stimulus features, analytical approaches, and open-science practices. We also mapped the intellectual structure of the field using co-authorship networks and extracted major research themes using topic modeling refined through manual review. Findings indicate substantial growth in empathic accuracy research, especially in Dial-based studies after 2015, yet limited integration across research communities. Most work examines interpersonal cues, relational contexts, clinical or neurodevelopmental populations, and close relationships. Methodological practices vary widely, including substantial heterogeneity in design choices such as interaction structure, stimulus content, reporting procedures, and analytical treatment of accuracy. Open-science practices remain rare, with few studies reporting preregistration, data sharing, or sample-size planning. Together, the review maps the conceptual and methodological landscape of empathic accuracy research, identifies gaps and inconsistencies, and highlights opportunities for theoretical refinement, methodological standardization, and broader application.