PSY321H5 Lecture Notes - Lecture 8: Facial Expression, Display Rules, Meta-Analysis
Lecture 8: Chapter 11: Interpersonal Attraction and Close
Relationships
Sunday, January 6, 2019
6:30 PM
Continuation of Chapter 10
What Is an Emotion?
o Emotions are interpretations of our physiological responses
Universality vs. Cultural Variability of Emotions
o Originator of this theory = Stanley Schacter
• Key founder of 2-factor theory of emotions
o 2-factor theory of emotions focuses on interpretation
• Predicts that emotions should vary across cultures bc diff cultural experiences may lead us
to have diff interpretations of physiological responses
Two-Factor Theory: Proof of Principle
o Study in CN -->
• Made use of Capilano Suspension Bridge near Vancouver
• 1 women = confederate in study + stand in middle of bridge
▪ As men passed bridge --> talk to them + give phone #
• Would also do this on a bridge not v high up
• Men on Capilano bridge --> experiencing heightened physiological arousal bc so high up
▪ Being so high has you have physiological arousal vs everyday bridge not so high up
• Found
▪ Men encountered women in high suspension bridge --> more likely to call women
• More likely to interpret their feelings towards this women as liking her or having
crushing other
• Combo of physiological arousal + h/ interpret that scenario based on that
physiological arousal
• Here the emotional state would be one of liking -- or subjectively attracted to
the women
What Is an Emotion?
o Might culture influence h/ we interpret our physiological arousal?
o Furthermore, might culture influence the types of experiences our bodies encounter and, thus,
the types of physiological arousal to which we are exposed?
Cultural Variation in Facial Emotional Expressions
o Display rules
• Dictate the appropriateness, form, + intensity of emotional expressions, thus leading to
"ritualized displays" that are not made universally
• Ex in East Asian cultures common for women to cover their mouth when they laugh -->
ritualized display that aren't necessarily culturally universal
▪ Rules + universals for h/ certain emotional state expressed
▪ Other than hand, facial rejection v similar to what would find elsewhere (ex smile or
wrinkling around eyes)
• Other display rules more extreme
▪ In their most extreme form, display rules lead to culturally idiosyncratic facial
expressions that are not recognized universally
▪ What emotion expressed by these two? Embarrassment
• L = Western way of expressing (looking down + hiding face)
• R = India (bite your tongue + stick tongue out a bit)
• Same emotion is expressed is varied across cultures
o Study
• Facial expression models of pain + orgasms --> + then looking at peoples ideas of what is
associated w/ each looking across Western + East Asian cultures
• More universality in terms of configuration facial features
• Orgasm combo of similar + diff features
• Facial features
▪ Pain
• Eyebrows lower
• Cheek raised
• Lip stretcher
• Upper lip raiser
• Nose wrinkle
• = face tightens
• Experienced similarly --> sim display rules
▪ Orgasm
• Eyebrows raised + eyes closing = similar
• Differs = degree of mov around mouth
▪ Westerners --> move mouth a lot more --> lower chin, open mouth
▪ East Asian --> lil tiny smile
• Display rules can be expressed differently for diff cultures
Cultural Variation in Perceiving Facial Emotional Expressions
o 6 standard photos of emotions said to be universal
o In less extreme forms, display rules lead to more subtle alterations to the manner in which facial
emotional expressions manifest
o A meta-analysis showed that people are approx. 9% more accurate at perceiving facial emotional
expressions of people from same culture
• Even in universal emotions may be subtle differences in way displayed
▪ Bc of these subtle differences, end up perceiving your own culture 9% easier than
another cultures facial expression
Cultural Variation in Strategies for Perceiving Others' Emotions
o Western cultures…
• People encouraged to express emotions more intensely
o East Asian cultures…
• People encouraged to refrain from strongly expressing their emotions
o This cultural difference is visible early in life (less than 1 yr of life)
• European-American 11-mth olds are more likely to be observed crying or smiling compared
to same-age Chinese infants
o It is easer to control the muscles around the mouth than those around eyes (eyes more reflexive
and harder to control vs mouth = easier to control)
• So…
▪ In western cultures:
• Accentuate emotional expression by exaggerating the mouth
▪ In East Asian cultures:
• Mask emotional expression by restraining the mouth
• Prediction:
▪ Westerners should attend more to the mouth + East Asians more to the eye bc they
offer the most info about others' emotions in day-to-day life
o Graph
• Take photographs of models + manipulate photograph by swapping out eyes or mouth to
have diff combo of happy, neutral, sad mouth/eyes
• Japanese + USA participants
• Rated for each diff photo --> degree of happiness/sadness (higher score = happiness, lower
score = sadness)
• Japanese Ss slightly elevated ratings when eyes happy
• American Ss more happy ratings when mouth happy
• Suggesting that Japanese + American Ss relying on diff kinds of cues in face looking a tin
order to infer emotion
▪ Weighting judgments differently based on eyes vs the mouth
Cultural Variation in Perceiving Emotions in Emojis
o Graph
• Westerners + Easterners on h/ perceived diff emotions
• Emojis varied in terms of sad eyes/sad mouth, sad eyes, neutral mouth, etc.
▪ As go from L to R emojis getting happier
▪ Sad eye cues = heavy blobs
▪ Neutral eyes = dots
▪ Happy eyes = characteristics upside down U shape
• Prediction: Easterners rely a lot more on eye cues vs Westerners rely more on mouth
• Found
▪ Sad eyes + sad mouth
▪ Westerners rating happier w/ happy mouth
▪ Westerners saying sad mouth = sadder than
▪ Happy eyes = Easterners always scoring higher
• Even in simple format, still see kinds of biases in way stimuli interpreted
Facial Feedback Hypothesis
o Hypothesis:
• We use our facial expression to infer our emotional state
o By making a particular emotional expression, we can think that we are experiencing the
corresponding emotion
• Ex holding pencil/pen in teeth = happy forced gesture
▪ Vs holding in lip = sad forced gesture
▪ Then asking h/ gage emotion
▪ In teeth condition --> report being happier vs the other is less happy + more towards
sad
o If our culture has rules regarding the intensity of our expressions, they may also affect the
intensity of our emotional experience
• Are Westerners experiencing more subjective emotions bc encouraged to display emotions
outwardly + explicitly
Top Hat
o Chapter 10, Question 3
Document Summary
Lecture 8: chapter 11: interpersonal attraction and close. What is an emotion: emotions are interpretations of our physiological responses. Cultural variation in facial emotional expressions: display rules, dictate the appropriateness, form, + intensity of emotional expressions, thus leading to. L = western way of expressing (looking down + hiding face: r = india (bite your tongue + stick tongue out a bit) Same emotion is expressed is varied across cultures: study. Facial features: pain, eyebrows lower, cheek raised. Cultural variation in perceiving facial emotional expressions: 6 standard photos of emotions said to be universal. In less extreme forms, display rules lead to more subtle alterations to the manner in which facial emotional expressions manifest: a meta-analysis showed that people are approx. 9% more accurate at perceiving facial emotional expressions of people from same culture: even in universal emotions may be subtle differences in way displayed, bc of these subtle differences, end up perceiving your own culture 9% easier than.
