Figure 3.

Structural equation model (SEM) structure. (A) Simplified diagram of model structure. (B) R pseudocode, with “~” representing “regressed on,” “*” representing an interaction, and “+” joining predictors in a multiple regression. The model assesses the effect of empathy on the relationship between four emotion factors and beauty judgments of images and songs, accounting for direct effects of trait empathy on emotion and beauty. The model accounts for stimulus duration and for random variation in measures at the participant and stimulus level (using the “cluster” parameter in lavaan’s “sem” function). Perceived emotion and beauty correspond to Likert ratings for each stimulus presentation, and felt emotion corresponds to the happiness and sadness simple ratings that each participant provided in the mood questionnaire before each stimulus trial block. “Empathy” corresponds to each participant’s total score on the Questionnaire of Cognitive and Affective Empathy (QCAE; Reniers et al., 2011).