Effect of speech-related smile suppression on emotional valence

Abstract

The physical act of smiling has direct positive effects on mood [Kleinke et al., Pers. Soc. Psychol. 74, 272–279 (1998)]. Relatedly, Rummer et al. [Emotion, 14(2), 246–250 (2014)] observed that participants rated comics as funnier if they had just produced /i/ (which requires adopting a smile-like position) than if they produced /o/. The present study tests whether suppression of smile posture by speech movements can cause individuals to view a subject less positively. To do so, we ask participants to maintain a smile while we present a series of visual stimuli labeled with target and control sounds. Bilabial sounds are targeted as Liu et al. found that bilabial stops (/p/ and /b/) suppress smile posture [ISSP12, 130–133 (2021)]. After articulating a sound that either suppresses or does not suppress their smile posture, participants rate each image set on a measure of emotion. Results will be presented and discussed bearing on the prediction that in the smile condition, participants will rate the image as less positive if they have just produced a sentence which includes a bilabial stop. [Work supported by NIH and NSERC.]