Happy Faces Elicit Heuristic Processing in a Televised Impression Formation Task: A Cognitive Tuning Account

Abstract

Participants viewed a videotape of a person who expressed verbal statements accompanied by neutral, happy, or angry facial displays. These statements could be used to quickly stereotype the person (heuristic processing). Alternatively, these statements could be processed in a piecemeal manner for purposes of judging the person (systematic processing). Among low-motivation participants, neutral displays elicited systematic processing, whereas happy displays elicited heuristic processing. Angry displays elicited a processing style falling between these extremes. Highly motivated participants processed the verbal statements in a systematic manner regardless of the target's facial expression. These results correspond to findings reported in the mood literature, and the differences obtained for low- and high-motivation participants support a cognitive tuning account of the mediating process.