The Expression of
Emotion:
Nonverbal Communication
Nonverbal Communication
• Humans reveal their emotions both verbally and
nonverbally.
• Nonverbal expressions include facial and other
bodily responses
• Communicating feelings without words:
– Facial expressions – Which part of the face is most
important to displaying emotion?
– Tone of voice
– Hand gestures
• Also called “body language” – Can You Speak
Body? (4 min)
Reading Nonverbal
Communication: Questions
1.
Discuss some social and work situations in which
the ability to interpret nonverbal cues is of
particular importance.
2. E-mail and Internet chat-room conversations are
completely lacking in nonverbal communication.
What might some of the consequences be?
3. Many studies find that women are better than men
at reading nonverbal cues. Why might this be so?
The Expression of
Emotion:
Gender and Cultural
Effects on Emotion
Gender Effects
• Women are better at reading nonverbal
communication of emotions.
• Women tend to express emotions more
than men do.
Display Rules
• The cultural rules governing how and when a
person may express emotion
• Rules greatly vary from culture to culture and
for different groups within a given culture
• Emotionally expressive people do tend to be
more well liked by others
• Is this an appropriate display of emotions?
Ekman’s Facial
Feedback Theory
Ekman's Studies on Facial
Expressions of Emotion:
Introduction
• Humans reveal their emotions both verbally
and nonverbally. Nonverbal expressions
include facial and other bodily responses.
• Paul Ekman and his colleagues have studied
facial expressions of emotions and have
linked specific emotions to the movement of
specific facial muscles.
Ekman’s Facial Feedback Theory
• Each basic emotion is associated with a
unique facial expression
• Sensory feedback from the expression contributes
to the emotional feeling
• Example: Smile if you want to feel happy. 
• Behavioral Feedback Phenomenon –
– Laugh & you’ll start feeling better. Mope and you’ll
feel worse.
• Follow this example from Mary Poppins: Click
HERE to view video.
1.80
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Average anger score
Average happiness score
Ekman’s Facial Feedback Theory
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1.00
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0.60
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0.00
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1.00
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Frown
Smile
Facial expression
Frown
Smile
Facial expression
Facial expressions have an effect on self-reported
anger and happiness
Emotion and Facial Expressions
• Paul Ekman and Walter Friesen coded
different facial expressions by painstakingly
analyzing the facial muscles involved in
producing each facial expression
• Ekman and his colleagues found that people
from many different cultures, even remote
ones, accurately recognized the basic
emotions expressed in photographs of facial
expressions
• Some specific nonverbal gestures &
emblems may vary across cultures;
however, some body language is probably
universal.
Facial Expressions
• Each basic emotion is associated with
a unique facial expression
• Facial expressions are innate and “hard-wired”
– By 6-7 months most babies exhibit facial expressions for all the
basic emotions
– Children who are born deaf & blind still have the same facial
expressions for joy, anger & pleasure.
• Innate facial expressions are the same across many cultures
• Display rules—social and cultural rules that regulate
emotional expression, especially facial expressions.
• Emblems – nonverbal gestures do vary across cultures
• Ekman has found that these expressions of emotion are
universal and recognizable across widely divergent cultures.
Ekman’s Facial Expression Study
• Paul Ekman describes the multiple roles of the human face
and its primary importance in displaying emotions. His
studies of emotional expressions in preliterate cultures,
some of which are shown here, confirm his findings in
literate cultures. (4:50)
Click Here to Play in a separate window
Ekman's Studies on Facial
Expressions of Emotion: Questions
1.
How did Ekman's studies allow him to determine
whether facial expressions of emotion are the result
of nature or nurture?
2. What do the results of Ekman's studies suggest
about the ability to detect lying about emotional
responses?
3. Suggest some other groups of people psychologists
could study to investigate whether facial expressions
are innate and universal or are acquired through
learning.
Which Baby is Which?
Anger, Disgust, Fear, Interest,
Joy, Surprise, Sadness
Joy
Anger
Disgust
Surprise
Interest
Sadness
Fear
Which Baby is Which?
Anger, Disgust, Fear, Interest,
Joy, Surprise, Sadness
Emotion-Detecting Radar
Arne Ohman and his Stockholm colleagues (2001)
found that people more speedily detect an angry face
than a happy one.
Animals & Emotion
Do animals experience emotion?
Do animals experience emotion?
• Anthropomorphism is the attribution of human
traits, motives, emotions, or behaviors to
nonhuman animals or inanimate objects.
• Some animal species clearly demonstrate emotions
• But, to understand how they subjectively
experience such feelings raises questions that
cannot be fully answered at this time.