Western Journal of Speech Communication · 1988 · 198 citations · 33 references
Social SciencesCommunicationPsychologyInterpersonal CommunicationNonverbal CommunicationSocial PerceptionEmotion PerceptionEmotion RecognitionEmotional ExpressionFacial ExpressionNonverbal EncodingSocial CommunicationEmotion Recognition From Nonverbal BehaviorFacial Expression AnalysisFacial Expression DynamicsFacial Expression EncodingNonverbal Emotional CuesNonverbal ExpressionPosed Facial ExpressionsSpontaneous Facial Expressions
Nonverbal behavior research has largely relied on studies conducted outside natural interpersonal communication, with most facial expression work focusing on posed expressions and few spontaneous studies using ecologically relevant settings. This study compares how easily posed versus spontaneous facial expressions of emotion are identified during ostensibly natural conversation. The authors elicited facial expressions in a natural conversational context and assessed their identifiability. They found posed expressions were unambiguous, whereas spontaneous expressions were remarkably difficult to identify, raising questions about the generalizability of prior research and the function of facial expression in communication. The authors acknowledge support from Faculty Research Grant D‑1733 and assistance from confederate students.
Many assumptions about the operation of nonverbal behaviors in interpersonal communication have been based upon studies which have not focused on interpersonal communication settings. Especially, most studies of facial expression have examined posed rather than spontaneous expressions, and the relatively few studies of spontaneous expressions have employed stimuli and/or settings of dubious relevance to everyday communication. The present study compares the identifiability of posed vs. spontaneous facial expressions of emotion elicited during ostensibly natural conversation. While posed expressions, as in earlier studies, were quite unambiguous, spontaneous expressions of emotion were found to be remarkably difficult to identify. Implications are discussed for the generalizability of certain nonverbal research results to interpersonal communication settings, for related methodological considerations, for revised conceptualizations of the function of facial expression, and for the more general issue of communicative intention. Notes The authors wish to acknowledge assistance via Faculty Research Grant D‐1733 from the senior author's institution, as well as the assistance of S. Boyd, C. Reed, C. Reuter, and R. Richards, students at the senior author's institution who served as confederates in the study.
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Expression and the Nature of Emotion
Paul Ekman · Medical Entomology and Zoology · 1984 · 911 citations