Social Psychology
Lecture 5
Nonverbal Communication of Emotion
Facial Expressions of Emotion
Jane Clarbour
(2003)
Room: PS/BOO7 Email: jc129
Objectives
• Give an account of Darwin’s theory of the
facial expressions of emotion.
• Describe cross-cultural studies of the
recognition of facial expressions of emotion.
• Demonstrate an understanding of Ekman’s
neuro-cultural model.
• Give an account of neuropsychological
evidence relevant to Ekman’s model.
• Evaluate criticisms of the neuro-cultural
model.
Facial expressions
– Assumptions
• Certain facial expressions of emotion
are innate
• If emotions are expressed similarly
regardless of culture or situation it
suggests that facial expressions are
important guides to emotion
– Alternatively
• Facial expression is contextual social
indicator of behavioral intent
Theoretical conflict
• Universalist
– Same facial movement is associated with
same emotion universally (innate)
• Relativist
– Facial expressions are learned within each
culture
Slide 1: What emotion is this?
Slide 2:
The innate hypothesis
DARWIN (1872) proposed that the facial
expression of emotion evolved as part
of the actions necessary for life:
• Anger:
– Frowning
• to protect eyes in anticipation of attack
Surprise
• Eyebrows raised
– to open the eyes wide to facilitate
sight
• Mouth opens
– to draw in air quickly to put the body
in a state of readiness
Fear
Movements similar to surprise but
more tense
–Raised eyebrows
–Open mouth
• Fear was more problematic for
Darwin.
– Conflict between readiness + protection
Disgust
• Lip movements are related to expelling
offensive matter from the mouth.
– By-products lip movement include:
• Nose wrinkling movements
• Lines below lower eyelid and raising
lower eyelid
• Cheek raising
Happiness & sadness
• Happiness
– Smiling - raised corners of the mouth
• Sadness
– Upturned inner corners of the
eyebrows
Ekman and Friesen (1976) faces
Happiness
Fear
Surprise
Sadness
Disgust
Anger
Neurocultural model (Ekman, 1972)
Ekman suggests both innate and social
learning views are correct
• Facial affect programme
– Firing of facial muscles (neurologically controlled)
• Direct (without need for cognition – Modular)
• Separate programmes for fight or flight
• Partly innate/universal
• Influenced by cultural norms
– Learned (vary by culture)
Interactions
• Display rules mediate neural
impulses
– Display rules prevent activation of facial
affect program
– Display rules prevent triggering of facial
muscles
– Reduce the output of the display
– Make the display shorter/substitute
alternative display
Display Rules
• Learned habits about controlling the
appearance of the face (Ekman, 1972)
– Cultural research suggests 6 basic emotions, with
innate facial expression.
– Modifiable by cultural display rules
• Attenuation – (weakening)
• Amplification – (exaggerating)
• Concealment – (masking)
• Substitution – (exchange)
Evidence from Cross-Cultural Studies
EKMAN et al (1972)
• review of studies in literate cultures
EKMAN & FRIESEN (1971)
• And illiterate cultures
– Shows similarity of labels of expression regardless
of culture
•
•
•
•
•
•
Anger
Fear
Surprise
Disgust
Happiness
Sadness
Evidence for neuro-cultural model
Ekman, Friesen & Malstrom (1972)
Showed 25 American and 25 Japanese
Ss a neutral and a stress-inducing film
(a circumcision)
1. Watching film on own (unknowingly
taped)
– Both groups displayed same facial
expressions
2. Interviewed by member of own culture
– Group differences in facial displays used
when discussing with peers
(Cited in Ekman, Freisen, & Ellsworth, 1972)
Support of Ekman’s neuro-cultural model
Neuropsychological evidence
Deaf and blind studies
• Rinn (1991) Congenitally blind
– when asked to pose basic emotions were judged
as less proficient than sighted Ss (fear, anger,
surprise, disgust)
– No difference for humour
• Eibl-Eibesfeldt (1973) Congenitally deafblind showed same basic repertoire of
spontaneous facial expression as ‘normal’
controls
Neuropsychological evidence
(Rinn, 1991)
• Separate control systems
– Sub-cortical system
•
•
•
•
Spontaneous facial expression
Sub cortical
Bottom-up ‘reflexive’ expression
Universal
– Cortical system
• Mediates voluntary system (display rules)
• Controlled
• Top-down ‘contrived’ expression
Facial paralysis: evidence for 2 systems
• Subcortical system
– Cases of paralysis of volitional facial
movement
• can’t move the paralysed side when told to smile, but
can still smile spontaneously on the paralysed side when
find something funny
• Cortical system
– Cases of paralysis of spontaneous facial
expression
• can control facial movement, but only when told
Criticisms of the neurocultural model (1)
RUSSELL (1991)
• Language used to describe emotion is
not universal
• Identification of facial expressions from
a limited range of emotion categories
overestimates universality
– Obscures subtle (but sig.) differences
between cultures’ emotion descriptors
Criticisms of methodology (Russell, 1994)
• Forced choice method supports neuro-culture
model
Happy Sad Contempt
Disgust Fear Angry
BUT…
• Free choice of label for the emotion does not
support universality
– Ekman should have shown photo and let his
subjects choose the emotion they were displaying
Alternative interpretation (Fridlund, 1994)
• Japanese smiled out of politeness to
interviewer (graduate student)
• Japanese custom to smile when
addressed (especially by an authority)
• Less rude for Americans to watch film
when addressed
Behavioural Ecology View (Fridlund,1994)
Alternative model
• Facial displays are simply messages
that display behavioural intent
– Why 6 or 7 ‘basic’ emotions plus ‘blends’?
• Facial displays depend upon social
context
– Manifestations of social intent
Behavioural ecology reinterpretation
• Anger displays:
– Readiness to attack
• Leaked anger/inhibited anger (ie.Ekman):
– Conflict about anger (I want to attack, but I don’t want to..)
• Contempt face:
– Declaration of superiority (I can’t even bother with you)
• Sad face:
– Take care of me/hold me
• Happy face:
– Readiness to play/ lets be friends
Developmental approach
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•
•
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Differential emotions theory
Cognitive/constructivist approach
Attachment theory
Social referencing
Differential Emotions Theory
(Izard & Malatesta, 1987)
• 9 basic emotions:
– Interest, joy, sadness, surprise, anger,
disgust, contempt, fear & shame
• 3 components of emotion:
– Neural
– Motor-expressive
– Mental
3 components of basic emotions
(Izard & Malatesta, 1987)
• Neural:
– Each is linked to a particular neural
substratum
• Motor-expressive:
– Each is expressed in a distinct manner
• Mental:
– Each comprises a specific ‘feeling’
Cognitive/Constructionist Approach I
• Sroufe (1979)
– Affect = undifferentiated states of
distress/non-distress
– Progressive development into
differentiated emotions
– Cognition acts as central mechanism
Cognitive development classes of emotion
Campos & Barrett (1987)
•
3 classes of emotion:
1) Primordial: fear and disgust
2) Concurrent goal: anger and sadness
(linked to environmental goals)
3) social: shame, guilt, envy and pride
Attachment theory
• Attachment theorists suggest smiling
and crying are innate behaviours whose
prime function is communication
– Crying signals distress to gain attention
– Smiling signals maintenance of attention
• Not always possible to conceal facial
expression of emotion
Summary
• Ekman
– Universality of 6 basic emotions
– Culturally specific displays
• Studies of blind children
– Blind children also show same facial
expression even when no opportunity for
social learning
• Behavioral ecology view
– separates emotion from facial displays
Behavioural Ecology View:
Criticisms of basic emotions
• Innate basic emotions view doesn’t
adequately account for ‘blends’
• No need to account for false/felt displays as
all displays arise out of social interaction
• Facial displays do not have to equate to the
experienced emotion
Questions to think about…
• What evidence is there for universal facial
expression?
• What is likely to be more influential:
– Evolutionary, innate function of emotion?
– Cultural, learned basis of display rules?
• Are babies born socially adept?
– Do they learn to smile to gain attention?
– At what age can babies interpret other’s emotion?
• Are there separate modular systems of affect?
• What comes first, cognition or emotion?