Described robot functionality impacts emotion experience attributions

This work tested whether attributions of emotional experience vary with the perceived functionality of robots. When robots were described in terms of their social value, participants assigned greater levels of emotional experience compared to when robots merely seemed to fulfil economic needs. However, increased perceptions of experience elicited more uncomfortable feelings in observers, apparently tapping into the uncanny valley. Implications for the use of social robots and human responses to feeling machines are discussed

The Look of Fear from the Eyes Varies with the Dynamic Sequence of Facial Actions

Most research on the ability to interpret expressions from the eyes has utilized static information. This research investigates whether the dynamic sequence of facial actions in the eye region influences the judgments of perceivers. Dynamic fear expressions involving the eye region and eyebrows were created which systematically differed in the sequential occurrence of facial actions. Participants rated the intensity of sequential fear expressions, either in addition to a simultaneous, full-blown expression (Experiment 1) or in combination with different levels of eye gaze (Experiment 2). The results showed that the degree of attributed emotion and the appraisal ratings differed as a function of the sequence of facial expressions of fear, with direct gaze resulting in stronger subjective responses. The findings challenge current notions surrounding the study of static facial displays from the eyes and suggest that emotion perception is a dynamic process shaped by the time course of the facial actions of an expression. Possible implications for the field of affective computing and clinical research are discussed

More What Duchenne Smiles Do, Less What They Express

We comment on an article by Sheldon et al. from a previous issue of Perspectives (May 2021). They argued that the presence of positive emotion (Hypothesis 1), the intensity of positive emotion (Hypothesis 2), and chronic positive mood (Hypothesis 3) are reliably signaled by the Duchenne smile (DS). We reexamined the cited literature in support of each hypothesis and show that the study findings were mostly inconclusive, irrelevant, incomplete, and/or misread. In fact, there is no single (empirical) article that would unanimously support the idea that DSs function solely as indicators of felt positive affect. Additional evidence is reviewed, suggesting that DSs can be—and often are—displayed deliberately and in the absence of positive feelings. Although DSs may lead to favorable interpersonal perceptions and positive emotional responses in the observer, we propose a functional view that focuses on what facial actions—here specifically DSs—do rather than what they express

No matter how real: Out-group faces convey less humanness

Past research on real human faces has shown that out-group members are commonly perceived as lacking human qualities, which links them to machines or objects. In this study, we aimed to test whether similar out-group effects generalize to artificial faces. Caucasian participants were presented with images of male Caucasian and Indian faces and had to decide whether human traits (naturally and uniquely human) as well as emotions (primary and secondary) could or could not be attributed to them. In line with previous research, we found that naturally human traits and secondary emotions were attributed less often to the out-group (Indian) than to the in-group (Caucasian), and this applied to both real and artificial faces. The findings extend prior research and show that artificial stimuli readily evoke intergroup processes. This has implications for the design of animated characters, suggesting that outgroup faces convey less humanness regardless of how life-like their representation is

Dominance biases in the perception and memory for the faces of powerholders, with consequences for social inferences

A great deal of research has shown that dominant-looking faces are afforded power. In this research, we tested the reverse link. As such, we examined whether knowledge of a target's power would lead to a dominance bias in face perception. Five studies were conducted by applying face morphing techniques to both controlled facial stimuli and faces of powerholders in the real world. Results showed that faces of powerholders were misrecollected (Studies 1A and 1B) and misperceived (Studies 3A and 3B) as more dominant-looking than their powerless counterparts. In addition, their faces were misrecollected as more prototypically dominant in physical appearance than they actually were (Studies 1A, 1B, and 2). Furthermore, enhanced facial dominance affected social inferences, with evaluations such as competence and attractiveness being sensitive to the gender of the target person (Study 3B). Implications for research on power and face perception are discussed

The influence of facial blushing and paling on emotion perception and memory

Emotion expressions facilitate interpersonal communication by conveying information about a person’s affective state. The current work investigates how facial coloration (i.e., subtle changes in chromaticity from baseline facial color) impacts the perception of, and memory for, emotion expressions, and whether these depend on dynamic (vs. static) representations of emotional behavior. Emotion expressive stimuli that either did or did not vary in facial coloration were shown to participants who were asked to categorize and rate the stimuli’s intensity (Exps. 1 & 2), as well as recall their degree of facial coloration (Exps. 3 & 4). Results showed that changes in facial coloration facilitated emotion categorization accuracy in dynamic (Exp. 1) but not static expressions (Exp. 2). Facial coloration further increased perceived emotion intensity, with participants misremembering the coloration of both dynamic and static expressions differently depending on emotion category prototype (Exps. 3 & 4). Together, these findings indicate that facial coloration conveys affective information to observers and contributes to biases in how emotion expressions are perceived and remembered

Facial behavior

: We provide an overview of the current state-of-the-art regarding research on facial behavior from what we hope is a well-balanced historical perspective. Based on a critical discussion of the main theoretical views of nonverbal facial activity (i.e., affect program theory, appraisal theory, dimensional theory, behavioral ecology), we focus on some key issues regarding the cohesion of emotion and expression, including the issue of “genuine smiles.” We argue that some of the challenges faced by the field are a consequence of these theoretical positions, their assumptions, and we discuss how they have generated and shaped research. A clear distinction of encoding and decoding processes may prove beneficial to identify specific problems – for example the use of posed expressions in facial expression research, or the impact of the psychological situation on the perceiver. We argue that knowledge of the functions of facial activity may be central to understanding what facial activity is truly about; this includes a serious consideration of social context at all stages of encoding and decoding. The chapter concludes with a brief overview of recent technical advances and challenges highlighted by the new field of “affective computing” concerned with facial activity

The Interpersonal Effects of Emotions in Money versus Candy Games

Emotional expressions significantly influence perceivers’ behavior in economic games and negotiations. The current research examined the interpersonal effects of emotions when such information cannot be used to guide behavior for increasing personal gain and when monetary rewards are made salient. For this, a one-shot Public Goods Game (Studies 1, 2, and 3) and Dictator Game (Studies 4 and 5) were employed, in which the dominant strategy to maximize personal payoff is independent from the counterplayers’ intention signaled through their facial expressions (happiness, sadness, and anger). To elicit a monetary mindset, we used money (vs. candy) as the mode of exchange in the games with (Studies 1 and 2) or without (Studies 3, 4, and 5) additional contextual framing (i.e. Wall Street Game vs. Community Game). Across five studies (N = 1211), participants were found to be more generous towards happy and sad targets compared to angry ones. Such behavioral response based on emotional information was accounted for by the trait impressions (i.e. likability, trustworthiness) formed of the counterplayer. This effect was significantly reduced when money acted as the mode of exchange, thereby making participants focus more on their selfgain. Together, the findings extend previous work by highlighting the social functional role of emotions in human exchange and its moderation by money as a transaction medium