Module 42: Expressing Emotion

Question 1

How do we communicate nonverbally?

Answer 1

• handshakes - outgoing expressive personality
• a glance can communicate intimacy, darting eyes signal anxiety
• gazing - love

Question 2

Can human detect nonverbal threats?

Answer 2

We readily sense subliminally presented negative words such as snake or bomb

A single angry face will pop out of a crowd

Question 3

How can experience sensitize us to particular emotions?

Answer 3

In experiments using a series of faces that morph from anger to fear, physically abused children are much quicker than other children to spot the signals of anger

Question 4

How readily can we detect deceit?

Answer 4

• difficult to discern deceit

- behavioral differences between liars and truth tellers are too minute for most people to detect

Question 5

Duchenne Smile

Answer 5

Raised cheeks and activated muscles under the eyes suggest a natural smile

Question 6

Does emotion give a clue to gender?

Answer 6

Researcher manipulated a gender-neutral face. People were more likely to see it as male when it wore an angry expression and female when it wore a smile

Question 7

Note:

Answer 7

Male and female do no differ dramatically in self-reported emotions or physiological responses but women’s faces showed much more emotion

Question 8

Does the meaning of gestures vary across cultures

Answer 8

yes

Question 9

Do facial expressions have different meanings in different cultures?

Answer 9

Smiles and signs of sadness are universal

Other emotions are less universally recognized

Question 10

Is interpreting facial expressions an adaptive trait?

Answer 10

Darwin argued that in prehistoric times, before our ancestors communicated in words, they communicated threats, greetings, and submission with facial expressions

Their shared expressions helped them survive

Question 11

How does culture impact the amount of emotional expression?

Answer 11

• individualistic cultures display visible emotions
• collectivist cultures have less visible emotional displays
• the mouth expresses more in North America while eyes tell more in Japan

Question 12

Facial Feedback Effect

Answer 12

The tendency of facial muscle states to trigger corresponding feelings such as fear, anger, or happiness

Question 13

Health Psychology

Answer 13

A subfield of psychology that provides psychology’s contribution to behavioral medicine