The face is the index of the mind: understanding the association between self-construal and facial expressions

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Defeng Yang ◽  
Hao Shen ◽  
Robert S. Wyer
Keyword(s):  
Causal Relationship ◽  
Facial Expressions ◽  
Social Orientation ◽  
Emotional Expressions ◽  
Daily Lives ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Self Construal ◽  
Different Types ◽  
The Face ◽  
The Mind

Purpose This study aims to examine the relationship between consumers’ emotional expressions and their self-construals. The authors suggest that because an independent self-construal can reinforce the free expression of emotion, the expression of extreme emotions is likely to become associated with feelings of independence through social learning. Design/methodology/approach The paper includes five studies. Study 1A provided evidence that priming participants with different types of self-construal can influence the extremity of their emotional expressions. Study 1B showed that chronic self-construal could predict facial expressions of students who were told to smile for a group photograph. Studies 2–4 found that inducing people to either manifest or to simply view an extreme facial expression activated an independent social orientation and influenced their performance on tasks that reflect this orientation. Findings The studies provide support for a bidirectional causal relationship between individuals’ self-construals and the extremity of their emotional expressions. They show that people’s general social orientation could predict the spontaneous facial expressions that they manifest in their daily lives. Research limitations/implications Although this research was generally restricted to the effects of smiling, similar considerations influence the expression of other emotions. That is, dispositions to exhibit extreme expressions can generalize over different types of emotions. To this extent, expressions of sadness, anger or fear might be similarly associated with people’s social orientation and the behavior that is influenced by it. Practical implications The paper provides marketing implications into how marketers can influence consumers’ choices of unique options and how marketers can assess consumers’ social orientation based on their observation of consumers’ emotional expressions. Originality/value To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this research is the first to demonstrate a bidirectional causal relationship between individuals’ self-construals and the extremity of their emotional expressions, and to demonstrate the association between chronic social orientation and emotional expression people spontaneously make in their daily lives.

scholarly journals The spatial distribution of eye movements predicts the (false) recognition of emotional facial expressions

PLoS ONE ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 16 (1) ◽  
pp. e0245777
Author(s):  
Fanny Poncet ◽  
Robert Soussignan ◽  
Margaux Jaffiol ◽  
Baptiste Gaudelus ◽  
Arnaud Leleu ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Spatial Distribution ◽  
Eye Movements ◽  
Eye Tracking ◽  
Facial Expressions ◽  
False Recognition ◽  
Recognition Task ◽  
Visual Exploration ◽  
Emotional Expressions ◽  
Facial Emotions ◽  
The Face

Recognizing facial expressions of emotions is a fundamental ability for adaptation to the social environment. To date, it remains unclear whether the spatial distribution of eye movements predicts accurate recognition or, on the contrary, confusion in the recognition of facial emotions. In the present study, we asked participants to recognize facial emotions while monitoring their gaze behavior using eye-tracking technology. In Experiment 1a, 40 participants (20 women) performed a classic facial emotion recognition task with a 5-choice procedure (anger, disgust, fear, happiness, sadness). In Experiment 1b, a second group of 40 participants (20 women) was exposed to the same materials and procedure except that they were instructed to say whether (i.e., Yes/No response) the face expressed a specific emotion (e.g., anger), with the five emotion categories tested in distinct blocks. In Experiment 2, two groups of 32 participants performed the same task as in Experiment 1a while exposed to partial facial expressions composed of actions units (AUs) present or absent in some parts of the face (top, middle, or bottom). The coding of the AUs produced by the models showed complex facial configurations for most emotional expressions, with several AUs in common. Eye-tracking data indicated that relevant facial actions were actively gazed at by the decoders during both accurate recognition and errors. False recognition was mainly associated with the additional visual exploration of less relevant facial actions in regions containing ambiguous AUs or AUs relevant to other emotional expressions. Finally, the recognition of facial emotions from partial expressions showed that no single facial actions were necessary to effectively communicate an emotional state. In contrast, the recognition of facial emotions relied on the integration of a complex set of facial cues.

Investigating microblogging addiction tendency through the lens of uses and gratifications theory

2018 ◽  
Vol 28 (5) ◽  
pp. 1228-1252 ◽  
Author(s):  
Qian Li ◽  
Xunhua Guo ◽  
Xue Bai ◽  
Wei Xu
Keyword(s):  
Causal Relationship ◽  
Uses And Gratifications ◽  
Theoretical Perspective ◽  
Research Model ◽  
Negative Consequences ◽  
Psychological Outcome ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Different Types ◽  
Key Drivers ◽  
Practical Implications

Purpose Considering the popularity and addictive attributes of microblogging, the purpose of this paper is to explore the key drivers of the microblogging addiction tendency, and to investigate the causal relationship between microblogging usage and addiction tendency through the lens of the uses and gratifications (U&G) theory. Design/methodology/approach By extending the U&G theory to accommodate the negative consequences of gratification, a research model that explains the relationships among microblogging use, gratification and addiction tendency was developed and empirically examined based on the data collected from 520 microblogging users in China. Findings The results showed that different types of microblogging use lead to different categories of gratification to different extents, while different categories of gratification play different roles in determining the level of addiction tendency. Specifically, the effect of content gratification on addiction is marginal, while social gratification has significant effects on all dimensions of addiction tendency. Originality/value The present study has both theoretical and practical implications. From a theoretical perspective, unlike many previous studies applied the U&G theory to explore the positive outcomes of media uses, this paper extends the U&G by including addiction tendency as a negative psychological outcome of U&G., resulting a research framework (use-gratification-addiction framework). Meanwhile, this paper contributes to the extending literature by examining the constructs of U&G at a granular level and investigated the causal relationship between “uses” and “gratifications.”

China will boost cannabis production under tight rules

2019 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
North America ◽  
Marijuana Use ◽  
Drug Laws ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Global Demand ◽  
The World ◽  
Different Types ◽  
Drug Policies ◽  
The Face

Subject The cultivation and use of cannabis in China. Significance China’s drug policies are some of the toughest in the world. They are strictly enforced and do not differentiate between different types of banned substances. However, China has recently liberalised production of cannabidiol (CBD), a mildly psychoactive chemical extracted from cannabis that is used both medicinally and recreationally. Increased global demand has caused the industry to boom in China. Impacts China will do more to battle marijuana use in the face of liberalisation in other countries; further crackdowns are likely. China may ask authorities in countries with more liberal drug laws to help prevent trafficking to China. China will remain the dominant producer of hemp globally, despite increases in production in North America and Europe.

scholarly journals The face is not an empty canvas: how facial expressions interact with facial appearance

2009 ◽  
Vol 364 (1535) ◽  
pp. 3497-3504 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ursula Hess ◽  
Reginald B. Adams ◽  
Robert E. Kleck
Keyword(s):  
Facial Expressions ◽  
Emotional Reactions ◽  
Emotional Expressions ◽  
Facial Appearance ◽  
Social Signals ◽  
Facial Movement ◽  
The Social ◽  
The Face ◽  
The One ◽  
Signalling Systems

Faces are not simply blank canvases upon which facial expressions write their emotional messages. In fact, facial appearance and facial movement are both important social signalling systems in their own right. We here provide multiple lines of evidence for the notion that the social signals derived from facial appearance on the one hand and facial movement on the other interact in a complex manner, sometimes reinforcing and sometimes contradicting one another. Faces provide information on who a person is. Sex, age, ethnicity, personality and other characteristics that can define a person and the social group the person belongs to can all be derived from the face alone. The present article argues that faces interact with the perception of emotion expressions because this information informs a decoder's expectations regarding an expresser's probable emotional reactions. Facial appearance also interacts more directly with the interpretation of facial movement because some of the features that are used to derive personality or sex information are also features that closely resemble certain emotional expressions, thereby enhancing or diluting the perceived strength of particular expressions.

Judgements of facial expressions of emotions in context and no-context Conditions

1984 ◽  
Vol 1 ◽  
pp. 29-35
Author(s):  
Michael P. O'Driscoll ◽  
Barry L. Richardson ◽  
Dianne B. Wuillemin
Keyword(s):  
Facial Expressions ◽  
Impression Formation ◽  
Person Perception ◽  
Contextual Information ◽  
Experimental Studies ◽  
Real Life ◽  
Emotion Perception ◽  
Important Variable ◽  
Emotional Expressions ◽  
The Face

Thirty photographs depicting diverse emotional expressions were shown to a sample of Melanesian students who were assigned to either a face plus context or face alone condition. Significant differences between the two groups were obtained in a substantial proportion of cases on Schlosberg's Pleasant Unpleasant, and Attention – Rejection scales and the emotional expressions were judged to be appropriate to the context. These findings support the suggestion that the presence or absence of context is an important variable in the judgement of emotional expression and lend credence to the universal process theory.Research on perception of emotions has consistently illustrated that observers can accurately judge emotions in facial expressions (Ekman, Friesen, & Ellsworth, 1972; Izard, 1971) and that the face conveys important information about emotions being experienced (Ekman & Oster, 1979). In recent years, however, a question of interest has been the relative contributions of facial cues and contextual information to observers' overall judgements. This issue is important for theoretical and methodological reasons. From a theoretical viewpoint, unravelling the determinants of emotion perception would enhance our understanding of the processes of person perception and impression formation and would provide a framework for research on interpersonal communication. On methodological grounds, the researcher's approach to the face versus context issue can influence the type of research procedures used to analyse emotion perception. Specifically, much research in this field has been criticized for use of posed emotional expressions as stimuli for observers to evaluate. Spignesi and Shor (1981) have noted that only one of approximately 25 experimental studies has utilized facial expressions occurring spontaneously in real-life situations.

scholarly journals Does the face show what the mind tells? A comparison between dynamic emotions obtained from facial expressions and Temporal Dominance of Emotions (TDE)

2020 ◽  
Vol 85 ◽  
pp. 103976
Author(s):  
Roelien van Bommel ◽  
Markus Stieger ◽  
Michel Visalli ◽  
Rene de Wijk ◽  
Gerry Jager
Keyword(s):  
Facial Expressions ◽  
The Face ◽  
The Mind ◽  
Temporal Dominance

Developing brand emotions across cultures: effects of self-construal and context

2019 ◽  
Vol 36 (4) ◽  
pp. 472-483 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alexander Jakubanecs ◽  
Magne Supphellen ◽  
Hege Mathea Haugen ◽  
Njål Sivertstøl
Keyword(s):  
Cultural Context ◽  
Social Orientation ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Random Samples ◽  
Self Construal ◽  
Advertising Context ◽  
International Data ◽  
Social Advertising ◽  
Culture Positive ◽  
Practical Implications

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to study the nature of brand emotions elicited by advertising stimuli across cultures and the process underlying such emotional experiences. Design/methodology/approach The study uses factorial between-subjects design. Random samples of the populations were solicited from the panels of an international data provider in Norway and Thailand. Findings This research shows that Thai consumers experience more positive socially engaging and disengaging brand emotions and fewer negative socially engaging emotions relative to Norwegian consumers. The effects of culture are mediated by consumers’ self-construal. Social advertising context increases number of positive and negative socially engaging emotions among Thai (but not among Norwegian) consumers. Research limitations/implications The results highlight the importance of incorporating social orientation of emotions and adverting context in cross-cultural studies of brand emotions. The finding that Thai consumers (relative to Norwegian) experience higher levels of atypical for their culture – positive socially disengaging brand emotions requires further research. Practical implications The findings suggest that advertising stimuli need to be adapted to the cultural context. Marketing managers should use extensive pretesting in culturally distinct markets to make sure that advertising evokes brand emotions in line with the strategy. Originality/value Despite extensive research on brand emotions, extant studies on brand emotions across cultures are limited. This study is among the first to advance the understanding of how social orientation of emotions and advertising context underlie experience of brand emotions across cultures.

scholarly journals Recognition of peripherally exposed emotional expressions

2018 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 16-33 ◽  
Author(s):  
A.V. Zhegallo
Keyword(s):  
Facial Expression ◽  
Latent Period ◽  
Facial Expressions ◽  
High Accuracy ◽  
Face Image ◽  
Emotional Expressions ◽  
Sufficient Condition ◽  
Emotional Facial Expressions ◽  
The Face ◽  
Exposition Time

The study investigates the specifics of recognition of emotional facial expressions in peripherally exposed facial expressions, while exposition time was shorter compared to the duration of the latent period of a saccade towards the exposed image. The study showed that recognition of peripherical perception reproduces the patterns of the choice of the incorrect responses. The mutual mistaken recognition is common for the facial expressions of a fear, anger and surprise. In the case of worsening of the conditions of recognition, calmness and grief as facial expression were included in the complex of a mutually mistakenly identified expressions. The identification of the expression of happiness deserves a special attention, because it can be mistakenly identified as different facial expression, but other expressions are never recognized as happiness. Individual accuracy of recognition varies from 0.29 to 0.80. The sufficient condition of a high accuracy in recognition was the recognition of the facial expressions using peripherical vision without making a saccade in the direction of the face image exposed.

scholarly journals Examining the visual screening patterns of emotional facial expressions with gender, age and lateralization

2013 ◽  
Vol 6 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Banu Cangöz ◽  
Arif Altun ◽  
Petek Aşkar ◽  
Zeynel Baran ◽  
Sacide Güzin Mazman
Keyword(s):  
Eye Tracking ◽  
Facial Expressions ◽  
Fixation Duration ◽  
Hemispheric Lateralization ◽  
Emotional Expressions ◽  
Emotional Facial Expressions ◽  
Face Area ◽  
The Face ◽  
Visual Screening ◽  
Emotional Face

The main objective of the study is to investigate the effects of age of model, gender of observer, and lateralization on visual screening patterns while looking at the emotional facial expressions. Data were collected through eye tracking methodology. The areas of interests were set to include eyes, nose and mouth. The selected eye metrics were first fixation duration, fixation duration and fixation count. Those eye tracking metrics were recorded for different emotional expressions (sad, happy, neutral), and conditions (the age of model, part of face and lateralization). The results revealed that participants looked at the older faces shorter in time and fixated their gaze less compared to the younger faces. This study also showed that when participants were asked to passively look at the face expressions, eyes were important areas in determining sadness and happiness, whereas eyes and noise were important in determining neutral expression. The longest fixated face area was on eyes for both young and old models. Lastly, hemispheric lateralization hypothesis regarding emotional face process was supported.

scholarly journals Unfolding political attitudes through the face: facial expressions when reading emotion language of left- and right-wing political leaders

2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Edita Fino ◽  
Michela Menegatti ◽  
Alessio Avenanti ◽  
Monica Rubini
Keyword(s):  
Facial Expressions ◽  
Muscle Activation ◽  
Political Attitudes ◽  
Political Orientation ◽  
Emotional Expressions ◽  
Political Leader ◽  
Right Wing ◽  
Political Leaders ◽  
The Face ◽  
Left And Right

Abstract Spontaneous emotionally congruent facial responses (ECFR) to others’ emotional expressions can occur by simply observing others’ faces (i.e., smiling) or by reading emotion related words (i.e., to smile). The goal of the present study was to examine whether language describing political leaders’ emotions affects voters by inducing emotionally congruent facial reactions as a function of readers’ and politicians’ shared political orientation. Participants read sentences describing politicians’ emotional expressions, while their facial muscle activation was measured by means of electromyography (EMG). Results showed that reading sentences describing left and right-wing politicians “smiling” or “frowning” elicits ECFR for ingroup but not outgroup members. Remarkably, ECFR were sensitive to attitudes toward individual leaders beyond the ingroup vs. outgroup political divide. Through integrating behavioral and physiological methods we were able to consistently tap on a ‘favored political leader effect’ thus capturing political attitudes towards an individual politician at a given moment of time, at multiple levels (explicit responses and automatic ECFR) and across political party membership lines. Our findings highlight the role of verbal behavior of politicians in affecting voters’ facial expressions with important implications for social judgment and behavioral outcomes.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document