Abstract
Embodiment theory suggests that we use our own body and experiences to simulate information from other people’s bodies and faces to understand their emotions. A natural consequence of embodied theory is that our own current position and state contributes to this emotional processing. Testing non-disabled individuals, we investigated whether restricted body posture and movement influenced the production and recognition of nonverbal, dynamic emotional displays in able-bodied participants. In Experiment 1, participants were randomly assigned to either unrestricted or wheelchair-restricted (sitting, torso restrained) groups and nonverbally expressed six emotions (disgust, happiness, anger, fear, embarrassment, and pride) while being videotaped. After producing each emotion, they rated their confidence regarding how effectively they communicated that emotion. Videotaped emotional displays were coded for face, body, and face + body use. Based on naïve coders’ scores, both unrestricted and wheelchair-restricted groups produced emotionally congruent face and body movements and both groups were equally confident in their communication effectiveness. Using videos from Experiment 1, Experiment 2 tested non-disabled participants’ ability to recognize emotions from unrestricted and wheelchair-restricted displays. Wheelchair-restricted displays showed an overall decline in recognition accuracy, but recognition was selectively impaired for the dominance-related emotions of disgust and anger. Consistent with embodied emotion theory, these results emphasize the importance of the body for emotion communication and have implications for social interactions between individuals with and without physical disabilities. Changes in nonverbal emotion signals from body restrictions may influence social interactions that rely on the communication of dominance-related social emotions.
Highlights
Social interactions rely strongly on nonverbal emotional displays to communicate social emotions, inform others about our feelings, and influence social outcomes (Vosk et al, 1983; Tiedens and Leach, 2004)
Some emotions are often communicated via facial expressions, others are expressed via body posture and movement
These preferences for each emotion establish a baseline indicating whether people typically rely on the face or body to nonverbally communicate specific emotions: The face is preferred to convey disgust and happiness, the body is preferred to convey pride, and we found no significant difference in preference for face or the body conveys anger, fear, and embarrassment
Summary
Social interactions rely strongly on nonverbal emotional displays to communicate social emotions, inform others about our feelings, and influence social outcomes (Vosk et al, 1983; Tiedens and Leach, 2004). Such communication can include expressions of basic emotions (e.g., happiness, anger, etc.; Ekman, 1992), as well as more complex social emotions that reflect relative social status (e.g., pride and shame; App et al, 2011; Steckler and Tracy, 2014; Tracy et al, 2015). Embodiment theory suggests that information from bodies is simulated when processing other people’s emotions (Niedenthal et al, 2001)
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
