Naslov
Interactive effects of tears and muscular facial expressions

Autori
Gračanin, Asmir ; Krahmer, Emiel ; Balsters, Martijn ; Küster, Dennis ; Vingerhoets, Ad

Vrsta, podvrsta i kategorija rada
Sažeci sa skupova, sažetak, znanstveni

Skup
International Society for Research on Emotion Conference 2017

Mjesto i datum
St. Louis (MO), Sjedinjene Američke Države, 26.07.2017. - 29.07.2017

Vrsta sudjelovanja
Predavanje

Vrsta recenzije
Međunarodna recenzija

Ključne riječi
crying ; tears, facial expression ; emotion

Sažetak
Emotional tearing is an expressive behavior that accompanies different self-reported emotional states, ranging from sadness to joy. Emotional tears are proposed to have evolved as a means of communication: their function is to convey distress, helplessness, submission, and friendly intentions of the crier, which eventually results in elicitation of pro-social responses of observers. A still unanswered question is how exactly tears interact with muscular facial expressions in order to convey such information. Do tears promote the perception of emotional intensity and sincerity of expression in general or do they convey more specific information? To answer these questions, we exposed sixty participants to pictures of individuals expressing six basic emotions (anger, disgust, fear, happiness, sadness, and surprise) or having a neutral expression, with or without artificially added tears. Additionally, we presented participants with a comparable group of artificially created faces (avatars). Participants' task was to report which of the seven emotional expressions they perceived, and to rate the intensity and sincerity of the expressed emotion, as well as the empathy felt towards the expressing individual. Results showed that tearful faces were more often perceived as sad and angry, and less often as disgusted and surprised. Interestingly, tears added more intensity to correctly recognized expressions of not just sadness but also of anger and fear. Tears also facilitated perception of sincerity and empathy felt towards models expressing sadness and anger, while they decreased perceptions of sincerity of disgust. These results are discussed in the context of the tears' ability to function as an attachment- related signal of distress, designed by evolution to convey distress and submission, and to promote social bonding.

Izvorni jezik
Engleski

Znanstvena područja
Psihologija

POVEZANOST RADA