Abstract
We investigate whether smile mimicry and emotional contagion are evident in non-text-based computer-mediated communication (CMC). Via an ostensibly real-time audio-visual CMC platform, participants interacted with a confederate who either smiled radiantly or displayed a neutral expression throughout the interaction. Automatic analyses of expressions displayed by participants indicated that smile mimicry was at play: A higher level of activation of the facial muscle that characterizes genuine smiles was observed among participants who interacted with the smiling confederate than among participants who interacted with the unexpressive confederate. However, there was no difference in the self-reported level of joviality between participants in the two conditions. Our findings demonstrate that people mimic smiles in audio-visual CMC, but that even though the diffusion of emotions has been documented in text-based CMC in previous studies, we find no convincing support for the phenomenon of emotional contagion in non-text-based CMC.
Highlights
Encountering a happy person who smiles radiantly may make you smile too and, subsequently, lift your mood as well
We focused on mimicry of smiles and not on other non-verbal features for two reasons: First, because the face is almost always visible in audio-visual CMC, it makes sense to focus on a form of facial mimicry
As action units (AUs) 6 has been widely regarded as the marker of genuine smiles, these findings suggested smile mimicry: When interacting with a confederate beaming with joy, participants displayed smiles that were more genuine, compared to participants who interacted with a neutral confederate
Summary
Encountering a happy person who smiles radiantly may make you smile too and, subsequently, lift your mood as well These phenomena of smile mimicry and emotional contagion have been documented in numerous studies; emotional contagion is theorized as a multi-stage mechanism that comprises mimicry (Hatfield et al, 1992, 1993, 2014). Despite their social nature, smile mimicry and emotional contagion have been investigated mostly in artificial laboratory settings devoid of a social and communicative element, or in text-based computer-mediated communication (CMC) in which facial mimicry cannot be ascertained due to the invisibility of the face. We addressed the following research questions in this study: Do people mimic smiles in audio-visual CMC?
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