Development and Validation of a Multimodal Emotion Recognition Ability Test Based on the Chinese Cultural Context

Emotion recognition is essential for social adaptation and mental health. However, existing measures still rely on limited stimulus materials or simplified task formats, which restricts ecological validity. The present study aimed to construct a localized multimodal emotion expression database in the Chinese context and to develop a multimodal emotion recognition ability test integrating emotion category and intensity recognition. In Study 1, a multimodal emotion expression database was established through actor performances, expert evaluation, and participant validation. The final database contained 2160 videos representing six basic emotions, five levels of emotional intensity, and two expression modes (vocal and non-vocal). In Study 2, 90 videos were selected under three recognition conditions (vocal-expression, muted vocal-expression, and muted non-vocal-expression). An integrated scoring approach combining emotion category and intensity was used to develop the test. A total of 236 valid participants completed the test. The results indicated that, after 61 video clips were retained, the test demonstrated good reliability and item discrimination. Evidence for criterion-related validity and construct validity was also obtained. Overall, the findings suggest that the present measure is a reliable and valid tool for assessing multimodal emotion recognition ability in the Chinese cultural context and offers the first empirical evidence that integrating category and intensity recognition can better capture the multidimensional nature of this ability.