Do facial expressions signal specific emotions? Judging emotion from the face in context.

TLDR

Facial expressions have been theorized to serve as clear signals of specific emotions, potentially overriding situational expectations. The study proposes that facial cues convey emotional relevance but do not signal specific emotions, predicting that situational context will dominate emotion judgments. Across three studies and 22 cases, judgments aligned with situational context rather than facial expressions, especially when the context implied a nonbasic emotion.

Abstract

Certain facial expressions have been theorized to be easily recognizable signals of specific emotions. If so, these expressions should override situationally based expectations used by a person in attributing an emotion to another. An alternative account is offered in which the face provides information relevant to emotion but does not signal a specific emotion. Therefore, in specified circumstances, situational rather than facial information was predicted to determine the judged emotion. This prediction was supported in 3 studies--indeed, in each of the 22 cases examined (e.g., a person in a frightening situation but displaying a reported "facial expression of anger" was judged as afraid). Situational information was especially influential when it suggested a nonbasic emotion (e.g., a person in a painful situation but displaying a "facial expression of fear" was judged as in pain).