The facial feedback hypothesis suggests that contractions of the facial muscles communicate our feelings not only to others but also to ourselves. In other words, our facial movements directly influence our emotional state and our mood even if the circumstances around us don’t change!
What is the facial feedback hypothesis in psychology?
Definition Of The Facial Feedback Hypothesis. The facial feedback hypothesis states that our facial expressions affect our emotions. If the facial-feedback hypothesis is correct, then not only do we smile when we feel happy but smiling can make us feel happy, too, even when we start out feeling sad.
What is the history of facial expression theory?
Development of the theory 1 The weak version, rooted in Darwin's writings, proposes that facial expression modulates emotional states in a minor and... 2 The strong variation—coinciding with James' postulations—implies that facial feedback is independently and chiefly... More ...
Is facial feedback responsible for the onset of emotional states?
The strong variation—coinciding with James' postulations—implies that facial feedback is independently and chiefly responsible for the onset and perception of an emotional state.
What is the relationship between facial activation and emotion?
Specifically, physiological activation of the facial regions associated with certain emotions holds a direct effect on the elicitation of such emotional states, and the lack of or inhibition of facial activation will result in the suppression (or absence altogether) of corresponding emotional states.
What does the facial feedback hypothesis suggest?
The facial feedback hypothesis suggests that an individual's experience of emotion is influenced by feedback from their facial movements.
What theory does the facial feedback hypothesis support?
The facial feedback hypothesis is based on the idea that a facial expression not only expresses an emotion, but also that expression and experience are linked in that afferent sensory feedback from the facial action influences the emotional experience.
How does the facial feedback hypothesis support the James-Lange theory of emotion?
One final interesting hypothesis about physiology and emotion is known as the Facial Feedback hypothesis, which proposes that the movement of facial muscles influences our emotional experiences. The hypothesis suggests that our brains use feedback from our facial muscles to recognize the emotions we are experiencing.
What does the facial feedback hypothesis suggest quizlet?
The Facial Feedback hypothesis suggests that when we physically express the appearance of an emotion, such as a smile, we also tend to experience the cognitive emotion as well.
Why is the facial feedback hypothesis important?
The facial feedback hypothesis, that skeletal muscle feedback from facial expressions plays a causal role in regulating emotional experience and behavior, is an important part of several contemporary theories of emotion.
What is the James-Lange theory quizlet?
The James-Lange theory states that the emotional stimulus enters our sensory systems and causes emotional expression responses (somatic, autonomic, and endocrine) which causes us to feel emotions. ie. smiling makes you feel happy.
What is William James theory of emotion?
James (1890) presented a bold proposal in The Principles of Psychology: emotions are the sensation of bodily changes, or as he put it, “the bodily changes follow directly the perception of the exciting fact, and that our feeling of the same changes as they occur IS the emotion” (Vol. 2, p.
How does the James-Lange theory work?
James-Lange theory of emotion (1880s) proposed that bodily changes come first and form the basis of an emotional experience. Thus, emotions are caused by bodily sensations (you become happier when you smile, you are afraid because you run).
What is the facial feedback effect and which theory of emotion does it support quizlet?
Facial feedback hypothesis basically states that the muscles in your face are capable of changing emotional experience and it supports the James-Lange theory of emotion. emotion does it support? This theory claims that our body responses and experienced emotions occur independently but all at the same time.
Which situation is most consistent with the facial feedback hypothesis?
Consistent with the facial feedback hypothesis, when people are asked to arch their brows, they find facts that they read in a textbook more: surprising.
Which statement best reflects the James-Lange theory of emotion quizlet?
Which statement best reflects the James-Lange theory of emotion? We see a monster, our hearts race, we feel fear. Which theory of emotion states that your body reacts before you experience an emotion?
What is an example of the Cannon-Bard theory?
What is this? The Cannon-Bard theory of emotion states that stimulating events trigger feelings and physical reactions that occur at the same time. For example, seeing a snake might prompt both the feeling of fear (an emotional response) and a racing heartbeat (a physical reaction).
What is the process of the James-Lange theory of emotion?
According to the James-Lange theory of emotion, an external stimulus leads to a physiological reaction. Your emotional reaction depends upon how you interpret those physical reactions.
What is evolutionary theory of emotion?
Evolutionary theorists believe that all human cultures share several primary emotions, including happiness, contempt, surprise, disgust, anger, fear, and sadness. They believe that all other emotions result from blends and different intensities of these primary emotions.
What is the cognitive Mediational theory?
The cognitive mediation theory describes mediation as a cognitive process. It assumes that the parties must gain insights, since they are not able to find a solution at the beginning of the procedure, but at its end. They need to gain insights when suddenly empowered to do so.
What is the facial feedback hypothesis?
Definition of The Facial Feedback Hypothesis. The facial feedback hypothesis states that our facial expressions affect our emotions. If the facial-feedback hypothesis is correct, then not only do we smile when we feel happy, but smiling can make us feel happy, too, even when we start out feeling sad. In these cases, it is the act of smiling that ...
When did facial feedback become popular?
Darwin investigated the way animals used facial expressions and suggested the idea of facial feedback in the 1870s. Through the latter half of the 1900s, the topic of facial feedback became popular again.
What types of facial expressions may produce the emotions we feel?
One thing that seems certain, though, is that a smile is connected to the production of a happy emotion, while a frown is connected to a feeling of sadness.
What determines facial expressions?
We usually think it's our emotions that determine our facial expressions. However, the facial-feedback hypothesis assumes that expression can work in the opposite direction. That is, the way we contract our facial muscles may generate emotional feelings within us. The question of whether that happens is still the subject of research studies.
How do we express our emotions?
We can show our emotions in many ways, but the quickest and most common way is through facial expressions. As it turns out, facial expressions may do more than showing others how we feel. Scientists have proposed the facial feedback hypothesis, suggesting that changing our facial expressions can also change our emotions.
Why do we use facial expressions?
Scientists suggest that this developed because people needed to live in groups to survive.
What is the basis of emotion?
Scientists have been interested in the idea of a facial-feedback hypothesis since the 1800s. In the 1840s, William James presented the idea that awareness of your bodily experiences is the basis of emotion. Thus, if you know your facial expressions are the ones you associate with being sad, you experience the feeling of sadness.
What is the facial feedback hypothesis?
The facial feedback hypothesis, rooted in the conjectures of Charles Darwin and William James, is that one's facial expression directly affects their emotional experience. Specifically, physiological activation of the facial regions associated with certain emotions holds a direct effect on the elicitation of such emotional states, ...
What is facial feedback?
Originally, the facial feedback hypothesis studied the enhancing or suppressing effect of facial efference on emotion in the context of spontaneous, "real" emotions, using stimuli. This resulted in "the inability of research using spontaneous efference to separate correlation from causality". Laird (1974) used a cover story (measuring muscular facial activity with electrodes) to induce particular facial muscles contraction in his participants without mentioning any emotional state. However, the higher funniness ratings of the cartoons obtained by those participants "tricked" into smiling may have been caused by their recognizing the muscular contraction and its corresponding emotion: the " self-perception mechanism ", which Laird (1974) thought was at the root of the facial feedback phenomenon. Perceiving physiological changes, people "fill the blank" by feeling the corresponding emotion. In the original studies, Laird had to exclude 16% (Study 1) and 19% (Study 2) of the participants as they had become aware of the physical and emotional connection during the study.
What is the effect of facial feedback on pain?
(1976) conducted an influential study in support of the facial feedback hypothesis finding that participants who inhibited the display of pain-related expression had lower skin conductance response (a measure commonly used to measure the activation of the sympathetic nervous system, or stress response) and subjective ratings of pain, compared with participants who openly expressed intense pain.
What did James include in his research?
While James included the influence of all bodily changes on the creation of an emotion, "including among them visceral, muscular, and cutaneous effects", modern research mainly focuses on the effects of facial muscular activity. One of the first to do so, Silvan Tomkins wrote in 1962 that "the face expresses affect, both to others and the self, ...
Which muscle is responsible for facial expressions?
Corrugator supercilii muscle . Because facial expressions involve both motor ( efferent) and sensory ( afferent) mechanisms, it is possible that effects attributed to facial feedback are due solely to feedback mechanisms, or feed-forward mechanisms, or some combination of both.
When was facial feedback popularized?
Furthermore, term "facial feedback hypothesis" was not popularized in research until around 1980, with one early definition of the hypothesis being "skeletal ...
Who conducted the original 1988 experiment?
However, doubts about the robustness of these findings was voiced in 2016 when a replication series of the original 1988 experiment coordinated by Eric-Jan Wagenmakers and conducted in 17 labs did not find systematic effects of facial feedback.
How do facial expressions affect emotions?
Experiments such as these support the notion that facial expressions generate physiological changes relating to emotions, but that does not necessarily mean that voluntary facial expressions stimulate the emotions themselves. It is difficult to assess whether emotions are experienced, as that is subjective. As a result, the self-report method was used by asking an open-ended question and requesting specific sensations or memory to support their emotion. Although not all the subjects indicated a sensation or memory, in most of the trials participants claimed they felt an emotion (Ekman, 1992). Previously Guillaume-Benjamin-Amand Duchenne’s research highlighted the differences between the variations of smiles. Voluntary smiles are not produced in the same manner as genuine smiles are. Genuine or Duchenne smiles are primarily formed by two facial muscles called the zygomatic major, the muscle that pulls the lip corners up, and the orbicularis oculi, the
Which theory suggests that emotions can be regulated by changes in self-initiatve expressive behavior?
The James-Lange theory also suggests that emotions can be regulated by changes in self-initiatve expressive behavior which supports the facial feedback hypothesis that will be discussed later (Laird & Bresler, 1990). There were those who adamantly disagreed with the James-Lange theory . The Cannon- Bard theory proposed that the body’s reaction and physiological responses occur both
What muscle is responsible for smiling?
The zygomatic major can pull the major lip on command, but the orbicularis oculi will only go into its position on its own. As expected, the emotional results of the Duchenne smiles differ significantly than the effects of non-Duchenne smiles (Ekman, 1992). Kraft and Pressman (2012) conducted an experiment to discern the physiological effects of covert and overt manipulation of different kinds of smiling in attempt to relieve stress. The psychologists conducted this experiment using 169 participants who were trained and then tested. Subjects were deceived into thinking that this was a multitasking study. Subjects were divided into three groups for the training process. They were told that half of them in each group would have to hold chopsticks in their mouths while they were simultaneously assigned two brief stressful tasks. Each group was trained to maintain a different facial expression by the use of chopsticks. Half of each group was told what facial expression to produce while the other half was simply told precisely how to hold their chopsticks in their mouth in a manner where smiles were forced. The three facial expressions were either a neutral facial expression, a standard smile, or a Duchenne smile. Subjects’ baseline scores were assessed using the Profile of Mood States. Furthermore, after each stressful task, scores, averages and cardiovascular activity were recorded and measured. Average baseline scores and cardiovascular activity measures were subtracted from positive and negative affect scores in attempt to discern emotional changes. Participants that were unaware of the smiling conditions stated that they experienced less of a decrease in positive affect during the stressful activities. Subjects in the control group, who were instructed to maintain a neutral facial expression, reported a larger decrease in positive affect than the previous group. This suggests that smiling buffers the adverse effects of stress.
Why did Carol attach pads to the fingertips of the suspect?
Carol attached small pads to the fingertips of the suspect in order to measure conductivity.
How does the brain regulate emotion?
According to the facial feedback hypothesis, how you feel an emotion is regulated, in part, by the feedback your brain gets from the way your face is arranged. If you can't arrange your face in certain ways, it might blunt your emotional experience.
Why is venting anger important?
People who think that venting their anger is useful because it provides catharsis or releases pent-up emotions and prevents the anger from exploding are more likely to express their anger. Some alternative solutions to venting anger include waiting, exercising, listening to calming music, and solution-focused coping.
Why do dolphins look happy?
We think that dolphins look happy because they look like they are smiling.
What are the factors that affect Type A behavior?
The most important factors in the Type A behavior pattern are anger and hostility. The anger and hostility can lead to increased stress. Hormones such as endorphins and corticosteroids flow into your body during stress and can weaken the immune response, which can lead to more increased illness.
Overview
The facial feedback hypothesis, rooted in the conjectures of Charles Darwin and William James, is that one's facial expression directly affects their emotional experience. Specifically, physiological activation of the facial regions associated with certain emotions holds a direct effect on the elicitation of such emotional states, and the lack of or inhibition of facial activation will result in the suppression (or absence altogether) of corresponding emotional states.
Background
Charles Darwin was among the first to suggest that physiological changes caused by an emotion had a direct impact on, rather than being just the consequence of that emotion. He wrote:
The free expression by outward signs of an emotion intensifies it. On the other hand, the repression, as far as this is possible, of all outward signs softens our emotions... Even the simulation of an emotion tends to arouse it in our minds.
Development of the theory
While James included the influence of all bodily changes on the creation of an emotion, "including among them visceral, muscular, and cutaneous effects", modern research mainly focuses on the effects of facial muscular activity. One of the first to do so, Silvan Tomkins wrote in 1962 that "the face expresses affect, both to others and the self, via feedback, which is more rapid and more complex than any stimulation of which the slower moving visceral organs are capable".
Methodological issues
Originally, the facial feedback hypothesis studied the enhancing or suppressing effect of facial efference on emotion in the context of spontaneous, "real" emotions, using stimuli. This resulted in "the inability of research using spontaneous efference to separate correlation from causality". Laird (1974) used a cover story (measuring muscular facial activity with electrodes) to induce particular facial muscles contraction in his participants without mentioning any emotional state. However, t…
Experimental confirmation
In an attempt to provide a clear assessment of the theory that a purely physical facial change, involving only certain facial muscles, can result in an emotion, Strack, Martin, & Stepper (1988) devised a cover story that would ensure the participants adopt the desired facial posing without being able to perceive either the corresponding emotion or the researchers' real motive. Told they were taking part in a study to determine the difficulty for people without the use of their hands or …
Studies using botulinum toxin (botox)
Because facial expressions involve both motor (efferent) and sensory (afferent) mechanisms, it is possible that effects attributed to facial feedback are due solely to feedback mechanisms, or feed-forward mechanisms, or some combination of both. Recently, strong experimental support for a facial feedback mechanism is provided through the use of botulinum toxin (commonly known as Botox) to temporarily paralyze facial muscles. Botox selectively blocks muscle feedback by bloc…
Autism spectrum disorders
A study by Mariëlle Stel, Claudia van den Heuvel, and Raymond C. Smeets has shown that the facial feedback hypothesis does not hold for people with autism spectrum disorders (ASD); that is, "individuals with ASD do not experience feedback from activated facial expressions as controls do".
See also
• Facial Action Coding System
• James–Lange theory
• Power posing
• Theories of emotion
• Two-factor theory of emotion