Myers 36.4: Facial Expressions+
The Effects of Facial Expressions
What did William James and Charles Darwin believe when it came to face expressions and emotions?
They believed what?
William James and Charles Darwin both believed that there is a connection between facial expressions and emotions
William James (1890)
suggested that by mimicking the outward movements of an emotion, one can actually experience that emotion
Creates the emotion
Example: to feel cheerful one must sit up cheerfully, looking around cheerfully.
Charles Darwin (1872)
Book: The Expression of the Emotions in Man and Animals (1872)
expressing emotions outwardly can intensify those emotions
Intensifies an emotion already present
Example: giving in to violent gestures could escalate feelings of anger.
Facial feedback effect
Definition
The facial feedback effect is the idea that facial expressions can influence and regulate emotions
our expressions not only reflect our emotions but also play a role in shaping and intensifying them.
Research Findings:
Participants in various studies were asked to fake expressions like grinning and scowling.
Frowning expression induced anger in participants — Laird (1974, 1984)
Even when naturally frowning, squinting at the sun — Marzoli et al. (2013)
Constructing a fearful expression led to feelings of fear rather than other emotions like anger, disgust, or sadness — Duclos et al. (1989)
So, are James and Darwin's beliefs correct?
They were correct in suggesting that expressions not only communicate emotions but also amplify and regulate them.
amplify = Darwin, regulate = James
How can smiling help a person, especially a stressed out person.
Smiling can make individuals feel happier
A genuine smile, involving raised cheeks and crinkling eyes, enhances positive emotions, especially in response to pleasant or funny stimuli (Soussignan, 2001).
Activating smiling muscles, such as holding a pen in the teeth, can reduce stress in challenging situations (Kraft & Pressman, 2012).
While Scowling can increase feelings of anger.
What is the effect of Botox within the Facial Feedback Effect
Research Findings:
Positive Effects:
Depressed patients reported feeling better after Botox injections paralyzed their frowning muscles (Parsaik et al., 2016).
Botox-induced paralysis of frowning muscles led to a slowdown in reading sadness- or anger-related sentences
Negative Effects:
When Botox paralyzed laughter muscles, individuals reported feeling more depressed (Lewis, 2018).
Implications from the effects
Botox's impact on facial muscles can alter how emotions are experienced and expressed.
Paralyzing frowning muscles can potentially alleviate feelings of sadness or anger.
In contrast, paralyzing laughter muscles contributes to increased feelings of depression.
Conclusion:
The use of Botox within the context of the Facial Feedback Effect highlights the bidirectional relationship between facial expressions and emotions.
your face is more than a billboard that displays your feelings; it also feeds your feelings.
Broader Behavior feedback effect
Definition
refers to how our actions and behaviours can influence our emotions and the emotions of those around us.
broader = not just us it influences
feel the way you act (behave)
Research by Carney et al. (2015) and Flack (2006) has explored this phenomenon.
Experimental Demonstrations:
Participants can experience the feedback effect by altering their physical behaviours:
Walking with short, shuffling steps and downcast eyes VS taking long strides with swinging arms and looking straight ahead can lead to a shift in mood.
Changing body posture, such as leaning back in a reclined sitting position when angry, can reduce feelings of anger (Krahé et al., 2018).
Empathy (or lack of it) and Mimicry:
Mimicking another person's facial expression can enhance empathy and emotional understanding (Vaughn & Lanzetta, 1981).
Difficulty in mimicking others, as seen in individuals with conditions like Moebius syndrome, cant make emotional connections and understanding (Carey, 2010).
Emotional Contagion, how is this seen especially in this day of age?
Natural mimicry of others' emotions contributes to emotional contagion, where emotions spread among individuals (Dimberg et al., 2000; Neumann & Strack, 2000; Peters & Kashima, 2015).
Positive social media posts, like upbeat Facebook content, can create a ripple effect, leading friends to express more positive emotions (Kramer, 2012).
Conclusion
The broader behavior feedback effect highlights the interconnectedness of behavior, emotions, and social interactions.
You can use your understanding of feedback effects to become more empathic
When people are induced to assume fearful expressions, they often report feeling some fear. This result is known as the _________ effect.
facial feedback effect = ones expressions effect our mood, thoughts, etc.
Aiden has a bad cold and finds himself shuffling to class with his head down. How might his posture, as well as his cold, affect his emotional well-being?
Aiden’s droopy posture could negatively affect his mood thanks to the behavior feedback effect, which tends to make us feel the way we act.
Researchers have also observed a broader behavior feedback effect (Carney et al., 2015; Flack, 2006). You can duplicate the participants’ experience: Walk for a few minutes with short, shuffling steps, keeping your eyes downcast. Now walk around taking long strides, with your arms swinging and your eyes looking straight ahead. Can you feel your mood shift? Or when angry, lean back in a reclined sitting position and feel the anger lessen (Krahé et al., 2018). Going through the motions awakens the emotions.
You can use your understanding of feedback effects to become more empathic: Let your own face mimic another person’s expression. Acting as another acts helps us feel what another feels (Vaughn & Lanzetta, 1981). Losing this ability to mimic others can leave us struggling to make emotional connections, as social worker Kathleen Bogart, who has Moebius syndrome (a rare facial paralysis disorder), discovered while working with Hurricane Katrina refugees: When people made a sad expression, “I wasn’t able to return it. I tried to do so with words and tone of voice, but it was no use. Stripped of the facial expression, the emotion just dies there, unshared” (Carey, 2010).
Our natural mimicry of others’ emotions helps explain why emotions are contagious (Dimberg et al., 2000; Neumann & Strack, 2000; Peters & Kashima, 2015). Positive, upbeat Facebook posts create a ripple effect, leading Facebook friends to also express more positive emotions (Kramer, 2012)