Proper recognition of facial expressions of emotion is crucial for human social relationships. Impairments in the capacity to process facial information may play an important role in the etiology and maintenance of certain mental disorders, especially music performance anxiety (MPA).

To assess the recognition of facial expressions of emotion in musicians compared to a group of subjects from the general population, considering also the presence/absence of MPA.

Hundred and fifty amateur and/or professional musicians who regularly take part in public performances (GM) and 150 subjects from the general population (GP) completed a task of facial emotion recognition and were assessed in terms of accuracy and reaction time. The group of musicians was subdivided between subjects with and without MPA indicators. Data were analyzed using Student's t test (P < 0.05) within the statistical package for the social sciences.

GM were less accurate and had a longer reaction time in the recognition of facial happiness (P < 0.001, effect size: 0.25–0.44) compared to GP. Musicians with MPA had a still lower accuracy in the recognition of happiness, as well as longer reaction times for emotions as a whole (P < 0.04; effect size: 0.32–0.40) compared to musicians without MPA.

The poorer performance of musicians in the recognition of happiness suggests difficulties to recognize indicators of social approval, which may negatively affect performance through increased anxiety and negative thoughts that can favor the onset of MPA.

The authors have not supplied their declaration of competing interest.