Expression Authenticity: The Role of Genuine and Deliberate Displays in Emotion Perception.

Mircea Zloteanu,Eva G Krumhuber

doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2020.611248

Mircea Zloteanu, Eva G Krumhuber

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2020.611248

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Abstract

People dedicate significant attention to others’ facial expressions and to deciphering their meaning. Hence, knowing whether such expressions are genuine or deliberate is important. Early research proposed that authenticity could be discerned based on reliable facial muscle activations unique to genuine emotional experiences that are impossible to produce voluntarily. With an increasing body of research, such claims may no longer hold up to empirical scrutiny. In this article, expression authenticity is considered within the context of senders’ ability to produce convincing facial displays that resemble genuine affect and human decoders’ judgments of expression authenticity. This includes a discussion of spontaneous vs. posed expressions, as well as appearance- vs. elicitation-based approaches for defining emotion recognition accuracy. We further expand on the functional role of facial displays as neurophysiological states and communicative signals, thereby drawing upon the encoding-decoding and affect-induction perspectives of emotion expressions. Theoretical and methodological issues are addressed with the aim to instigate greater conceptual and operational clarity in future investigations of expression authenticity.

Highlights

The accurate recognition of emotions plays a crucial role in communication and social interaction
We build on this work, thereby focusing on human expression authenticity judgments: assessing whether the emotional expression displayed by another person is a genuine reflection of their underlying affect
Judges engage in a categorization task that prompts them to classify facial exemplars based on pre-selected criteria (e.g., Ekman et al, 1983). While such procedure allows for clear and reliable assessments, it may not be sufficient for measuring expression authenticity, as investigations can be conducted with stimuli produced to “look” authentic even though the sender did not experience genuine affect

Summary

Introduction

The accurate recognition of emotions plays a crucial role in communication and social interaction. We build on this work, thereby focusing on human expression authenticity judgments: assessing whether the emotional expression displayed by another person is a genuine reflection of their underlying affect. Differences between genuine and deliberate displays exist, and expression authenticity is a function of the decoder’s perceptual ability and knowledge for making accurate inferences.

Results

Conclusion