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                                    Chapter 6170al., 2014; S. Wang & Adolphs, 2017). In contrast, under- and overestimations of facial emotion recognition accuracy have been associated with higher autistic trait levels in a neurotypical sample (Folz et al., 2023), in line with a similar pattern concerning social skill judgments in a clinical sample (DeBrabander et al., 2020). Hence, modulations in both intensity of perceived facial expressions and confidence in their recognition may also be accounted for by a different path to emotion recognition compared to neurotypical individuals. Alterations in facial emotion processing have also been observed in social anxiety (for reviews, see Gilboa-Schechtman & Shachar-Lavie, 2013; Machado-de-Sousa et al., 2010). Namely, individuals with social anxiety tend to interpret displays of facial emotions more negatively. This could, for example, result in a higher sensitivity to negative expressions (e.g., Guti%u00e9rrez-Garc%u00eda & Calvo, 2017; Joormann & Gotlib, 2006; however see Bui et al., 2017) and a lower sensitivity to positive expressions (Lacombe et al., 2023). Moreover, higher misattributions of negative affect to neutral expressions have been observed in individuals with social anxiety (Peschard & Philippot, 2017). This misperception of social threat might explain why emotional facial expressions are reported to be more arousing (Kivity & Huppert, 2016). Yet, not all studies report increased threat perception in faces, including higher intensity of arousal ratings, in socially anxious individuals (e.g., Vrana & Gross, 2004). Recent evidence further suggests that not emotion recognition performance itself, but rather confidence in accurately judging emotional facial expressions is reduced with higher social anxiety trait levels (Folz et al., 2023). This observation is in line with general negative beliefs about one%u2019s performance in social situations, which are highlighted in cognitive models of social anxiety (Clark & Wells, 1995). Importantly, altered facial emotion perception has been linked to social interaction difficulties in both social anxiety (Gilboa-Schechtman & ShacharLavie, 2013) and autism (Boraston et al., 2007; D. A. Trevisan & Birmingham, 2016), which calls for an identification of potential underlying mechanisms.Physiological Resonance of Perceived Facial EmotionsFacial emotional expressions are known to elicit physiological responses in an observer (Dimberg, 1982), and can form part of an %u201cembodied simulation%u201d of the corresponding emotional state (Niedenthal, 2007). Most research to date has focussed on the mirroring of facial expressions, so-called facial mimicry, and its role in processing others%u2019 emotions (Wood et al., 2016). Distinct mimicry patterns 
                                
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