Effect Of Emotional Expression Research Articles

Emotional Expression and Its Applications

Humans are social animals that require close relationships with other people. Moreover, humans have relationships with pets in our society, and some robots are regarded as pets or companions, for example, AIBO and PARO. It means that robots can be social beings in human society, and we call these kinds of robots as social robots. Social robots communicate with humans as their partners in our daily life environment, and Human-Robot Interaction is one of the core technologies for social robots. Emotional expressions and interactions are essential to social robots and applied to various areas, for example, performing in theater, assisting humans in home, and healing humans in hospital, etc. The contributions in this special issue are on the emotional expression and applications of social robots, covering the topics of facial expression, recognizing and imitating human emotions, emotional postures, emotion-based humanrobot interaction, as well as social effects of emotional expressions and interaction. The first paper is on “Visualization of Facial Expression Deformation Applied to the Mechanism Improvement of Face Robot” by Chyi-Yeu Lin, Li-Chieh Cheng and ChunChia Huang. The authors present a design approach, which uses reverse engineering techniques of three dimensional measurement and analysis, to visualize some critical facial

On the social influence of emotions in groups: Interpersonal effects of anger and happiness on conformity versus deviance.

How do emotional expressions of group members shape conformity versus deviance in groups? We hypothesized that angry and happy responses to a group member's deviating opinion are interpreted as signals of imminent rejection versus acceptance. In 5 studies, the majority's expressions of anger led the deviant individual to feel rejected, whereas expressions of happiness made the deviant feel accepted. Because conformity can be seen as strategic behavior aimed at gaining (re)acceptance, the effects of emotional expressions on conformity should be moderated by social-contextual factors that determine the motivation to be accepted by the group and by the extent to which conformity is a means to this end. Accordingly, in Study 2, the availability of alternative groups determined whether a deviant conformed to the current group or abandoned the group after an angry reaction. In Study 3, anger and happiness were only associated with conformity pressure in situations that were perceived as cooperative (rather than competitive). Employing an interactive group task in Study 4, we showed that individuals who received an angry reaction contributed less in a cooperative group task than did those who received a neutral or happy reaction. Finally, in Study 5, peripheral group members conformed more after an angry reaction than after a happy reaction, but prototypical group members did not. Moreover, conformity was still manifest 3 weeks after the experiment, and this effect was mediated by feelings of rejection. We discuss implications of these findings for theorizing about social functions of emotions and the role of emotions in groups.

Facilitation of face recognition through the retino-tectal pathway

Humans can shift their gazes faster to human faces than to non-face targets during a task in which they are required to choose between face and non-face targets. However, it remains unclear whether a direct projection from the retina to the superior colliculus is specifically involved in this facilitated recognition of faces. To address this question, we presented a pair of face and non-face pictures to participants modulated in greyscale (luminance-defined stimuli) in one condition and modulated in a blue–yellow scale (S-cone-isolating stimuli) in another. The information of the S-cone-isolating stimuli is conveyed through the retino-geniculate pathway rather than the retino-tectal pathway. For the luminance stimuli, the reaction time was shorter towards a face than towards a non-face target. The facilitatory effect while choosing a face disappeared with the S-cone stimuli. Moreover, fearful faces elicited a significantly larger facilitatory effect relative to neutral faces, when the face (with or without emotion) and non-face stimuli were presented in greyscale. The effect of emotional expressions disappeared with the S-cone stimuli. In contrast to the S-cone stimuli, the face facilitatory effect was still observed with negated stimuli that were prepared by reversing the polarity of the original colour pictures and looked as unusual as the S-cone stimuli but still contained luminance information. These results demonstrate that the face facilitatory effect requires the facial and emotional information defined by luminance, suggesting that the luminance information conveyed through the retino-tectal pathway is responsible for the faster recognition of human faces.

Effects of emotional expression of an irrelevant face image on recognition of visual stimuli

Psychophysiological experiments were performed on 34 healthy subjects. We analyzed the accuracy and latency of motor response in recognizing two types of complex visual stimuli, animals and objects, which were presented immediately after a brief presentation of face images with different emotional expressions: anger, fear, happiness, and a neutral expression. We revealed the dependence of response latency on emotional expression of the masked face. The response latency was lower when the test stimuli were preceded by angry or fearful faces compared to happy or neutral faces. These effects depended on the type of stimulus and were more expressive when recognizing objects compared to animals. We found that the effects of emotional faces were related to personal features of the subjects that they exhibited in the emotional and communicative blocks of Cattell’s test and were more expressive in more sensitive, anxious, and pessimistic introverts. The mechanisms of the effects of unconsciously perceived emotional information on human visual behavior are discussed.

Leaders' emotional expressiveness and their behavioural and relational authenticity: Effects on followers

In this article, we investigate the effects of leader emotional expressiveness on idealized influence and leadership effectiveness. Drawing from recent theory and research on authentic leadership, we also examine the moderating role of leader behavioural and relational authenticity in the relationship between leader emotional expressiveness and idealized influence. Results obtained in a study of 198 mid-level managers largely supported our predictions, in that leader emotional expressiveness was positively associated with followers' extra effort and their perceptions of leadership effectiveness. These effects were fully mediated by idealized influence. Consistent with the notion of authentic leadership as a root concept for other positive leadership approaches, the effect of emotional expressiveness on idealized influence was moderated by leader relational authenticity such that only those leaders who were emotionally expressive and relationally authentic were perceived to have high idealized influence.

Emotional Modulation of the Attentional Blink Is Awareness-Dependent

It is well known that emotion can modulate attentional processes. Previous studies have shown that even under restricted awareness, emotional facial expressions (especially threat-related) can guide the direction of spatial attention. However, it remains unclear whether emotional facial expressions under restricted awareness can affect temporal attention. To address this issue, we used a modified attentional blink (AB) paradigm in which masked (Experiment 1) or unmasked (Experiment 2) emotional faces (fearful or neutral) were presented before the AB sequence. We found that, in comparison with neutral faces, masked fearful faces significantly decreased the AB magnitude (Experiment 1), whereas unmasked fearful faces significantly increased the AB magnitude (Experiment 2). These results indicate that effects of emotional expression on the AB are modulated by the level of awareness.

Facial expression influences recognition memory for faces: Robust enhancement effect of fearful expression

Memory for faces is important for social interactions. However, it is unclear whether negative or positive expression affects recollection and familiarity for faces and whether the effect can be modulated by retention interval. Two experiments examined the effect of emotional expression on recognition for faces at two delay conditions. In Experiment 1 participants viewed neutral, positive, and negative (including fearful, sad, angry etc.) faces and made gender discrimination for each face. In Experiment 2 they viewed and made gender discrimination for neutral, positive, and fearful faces. Following the incidental learning they were randomly assigned into the immediate and 24-hour (24-h) delay conditions. Findings from the two experiments are as follows: (1) In the immediate and 24-h delay conditions overall recognition and recollection for negative faces (fearful faces in Experiment 2) were better than for neutral faces and positive faces. (2) In the immediate and 24-h delay conditions recollection and familiarity for positive faces was equivalent to recollection for neutral faces. (3) The enhancement effect of fearful expression on recognition and recollection was not due to greater discriminability between the old and new faces in the fearful category. The results indicate that recognition and recollection for faces and the enhancement effect of fearful expression is robust within 24 hours.

Adult attachment and emotional processing biases: An Event-Related Potentials (ERPs) study

Attachment-related electrophysiological differences in emotional processing biases were examined using Event-Related Potentials (ERPs). We identified ERP correlates of emotional processing by comparing ERPs elicited in trials with angry and neutral faces. These emotional expression effects were then compared across groups with secure, anxious and avoidant attachment orientations. Results revealed significant interactions between attachment orientation and facial expression in mean amplitudes of the early C1 (50–80ms post-stimulus) and P1 (80–120ms post-stimulus) ERP components. Significant differences in C1 and P1 mean amplitudes were found at occipital and posterior-parietal channels in response to angry compared with neutral faces only within the avoidant attachment group. No such differences were found within the secure or anxious attachment groups. The present study underscores the usefulness of the ERP methodology, as a sensitive measure for the study of emotional processing biases in the research field of attachment.

Emotion and the construal of social situations: Inferences of cooperation versus competition from expressions of anger, happiness, and disappointment

The notion that emotional expressions regulate social life by providing information is gaining popularity. Prior research on the effects of emotional expressions on observers’ inferential processes has focused mostly on inferences regarding the personality traits of the expresser, such as dominance and affiliation. We extend this line of research by exploring the possibility that emotional expressions shape observers’ construal of social situations. Across three vignette studies, an interaction partner's expressions of anger, compared to expressions of happiness or disappointment, led observers to construe hypothetical situations as less cooperative, both in dyads and groups. These effects occurred even when factual information regarding the cooperativeness or competitiveness of the situation was provided, attesting to the power of emotional expressions in shaping the construal of social situations. Results are discussed in relation to appraisal theory, reverse appraisals, emotions as social information theory, and the emergence of cooperation in groups and cultures.

Foveal and parafoveal spatial attention and its impact on the processing of facial expression: An ERP study

ObjectiveThe aim was to investigate the effects of spatial attention, stimulus location, and emotional expression on the processing of face stimuli. MethodsHealthy volunteers performed two sustained attention tasks, focusing their attention on either fixation (foveal location) or on a location several degrees above fixation (parafoveal location). Photographs of faces with either a neutral or a fearful expression were presented randomly at one of these locations. Event-related potentials were recorded in response to the face stimuli. ResultsSpatial attention modulated the early P1 and N1 components for both foveally and parafoveally presented stimuli. Emotional expression effects already occurred at the P1 stage in response to attended foveal stimuli, but only arose from 220ms post-stimulus onwards in response to attended parafoveal stimuli. When faces were unattended, emotional expression effects were still present for parafoveal stimuli, whereas they were completely absent for foveal stimuli. ConclusionsThe modulations of the P1/N1 components by fearful faces are due to an early sensory modulation of extrastriate generators, and reflect an enhanced allocation of attention to threat-related stimuli. SignificanceFuture studies should take into account the possibility that spatial attention effects and effects of emotional expression processing are different for different positions in the visual field.

Social Judgments are Influenced By Both Facial Expression and Direction of Eye Gaze

In the current study we examined how emotional expressions influence two social judgments, approachability and trustworthiness, and how the effect of emotional expression is modulated by the direction of the signaller's eye gaze. For both social judgments, happy faces were judged more positively than all other emotions, while neutral faces were judged more favorably than faces displaying negative emotions. Angry and disgusted faces were given the most negative ratings, significantly more so than sad and fearful faces. Direction of eye gaze modulated the degree to which angry, happy, and neutral expressions influenced social judgments, which reflected the manner in which direction of eye gaze influenced the perceived intensity of these emotional expressions. The results suggest that the perception of direct threat, coupled with emotional intensity, both play a key role in the process of making social judgments.

The benefits of emotional expression for math performance

This study investigated the effects of emotional expression on actual and perceived math performance. Female participants were either asked to express their emotions or given no special instructions before taking a math test under stereotype threat or no stereotype threat conditions. Participants in the emotional expression condition performed better on the math test than participants in the control condition. Under stereotype threat, participants in the emotional expression condition believed they performed better on the math test. Emotional expression appears not only to have health benefits (e.g., Pennebaker, 1997), but academic benefits as well, including for stereotyped threatened individuals.

Emotional expressions in online user reviews: How they influence consumers' product evaluations

This article investigates an understudied aspect of online word-of-mouth (eWOM) — the effects of emotional expressions in eWOM. Two experiments investigate how consumers interpret emotional expressions in online user reviews and the subsequent impact on their product evaluations. The findings reveal that negative emotional expressions in a single negative review tend to decrease the reviews' informative value and make consumers' product evaluations less negative because consumers attribute the negative emotions to the reviewer's irrational dispositions. However, positive emotional expressions in a single positive review do not influence consumers' product evaluations significantly even though consumers attribute the positive emotions to the product. Next, when multiple convergent emotional expressions are present in multiple user reviews, both positive and negative emotional expressions increase informative value of the reviews and polarize consumers' product evaluations in the respective direction.

Emotionally meaningful targets enhance orienting triggered by a fearful gazing face

Studies investigating the effect of emotional expression on spatial orienting to a gazed-at location have produced mixed results. The present study investigated the role of affective context in the integration of emotion processing and gaze-triggered orienting. In three experiments, a face gazed non-predictively to the left or right, and then its expression became fearful or happy. Participants identified (Experiments 1 and 2) or detected (Experiment 3) a peripheral target presented 225 or 525 ms after the gaze cue onset. In Experiments 1 and 3 the targets were either threatening (a snarling dog) or non-threatening (a smiling baby); in Experiment 2 the targets were neutral. With emotionally valenced targets, the gaze-cuing effect was larger when the face was fearful compared to happy—but only with the longer cue–target interval. With neutral targets, there was no interaction between gaze and expression. Our results indicate that a meaningful context optimises attentional integration of gaze and expression information.

Adaptation effects of emotional expressions in anxiety: Evidence for an enhanced late positive potential

Adaptation effects of emotional expressions in anxiety: Evidence for an enhanced late positive potential

How's my hat? Effect of emotional expression

How's my hat? Effect of emotional expression

Facing fear: The effect of emotional expressions on visual short-term memory for faces

Facing fear: The effect of emotional expressions on visual short-term memory for faces

Demonstration of a positive effect of emotional expression on blood coagulation is possible with dark field microscopy

Effects of psychological stress on blood hypercoagulation have been shown by a number of authors. In healthy subjects acute mental stress simultaneously activates coagulation and fibrinolysis within a physiological range. However, in patients with atherosclerosis or in healthy subjects under acute or chronic psychosocial stressors (e.g. exam, earthquake, blood donation, job strain, low socioeconomic status, social isolation) hypercoagulable states reflected by an increased number of procoagulant molecules and by reduced fibrinolytic capacity might develop. There is also evidence that points to hypercoagulability in depression. The aim of this paper was to demonstrate the positive effect of emotional expression on blood coagulation using dark field microscopy. Cases of three patients suffering from psychological stress are presented. Humaniversity therapy was applied for all cases integrating a variety of therapeutic techniques, such as: emotional expression, cognitive change, integrity of a holistic approach, touch and positivity. Dark field microscopy was used before and after the sessions to evaluate the effect of therapeutic work on blood coagulation. The results of three cases showed the immediate effect of emotional release on blood coagulation. After the sessions lasting from 1–1.5 hours, all three cases reported improved emotional well-being with changes in blood clotting from levels 4 and 5 (light severe and severe clotting) to no clotting at all. A positive objective effect of emotional expression on blood coagulation can be demonstrated using dark field microscopy.

Effects of emotional expressions in recognizing unfamiliar faces

The role of the facial expression of emotions on face recognition was investigated by analyzing the effects of happy and angry expressions on identity and facial expression recognition memory task. In Experiment 1, facial expressions at encoding and retrieval stages were manipulated by presenting the participants with happy, angry, or neutral faces in an incidental learning condition (rating their friendliness or distinctiveness). Later they were tested for their recognition of the identical persons displaying the same or different expressions (identity recognition task). They were also asked to name the initial expressions on the faces (expression recognition task). Results indicated that happy faces were better recognized than angry faces when presented with different expressions at the encoding stage irrespectively the encoding conditions. In contrast, happy expressions were not correctly responded for expressions at encoding on the expression recognition task. The results of Experiment 2 confirmed that the superiority of happy expression on the identity recognition task. It was concluded that happy expression enhanced the formation of facial memory representations.

The Face of Need: Facial Emotion Expression on Charity Advertisements

Abstract Advertisements for charities often display photographs of the people they help to evoke the kind of sympathy that engenders giving. This article examines how the expression of emotion on a victim's face affects both sympathy and giving. Building on theories of emotional contagion and sympathy, the authors propose that (1) people “catch” the emotions displayed on a victim's face and (2) they are particularly sympathetic and likely to donate when they see sad expressions versus happy or neutral expressions. Consistent with emotional contagion, participants felt sadder when viewing a sad-faced victim, and their own sadness mediated the effect of emotion expression on sympathy. Contagion effects are automatic and noninferential, but they are diminished by deliberative thought. The authors discuss the implications of using subtle emotional expressions on charitable and other marketing appeals.