More Than Mere Mimicry? The Influence of Emotion on Rapid Facial Reactions to Faces

Within a second of seeing an emotional facial expression, people typically match that expression. These rapid facial reactions (RFRs), often termed mimicry, are implicated in emotional contagion, social perception, and embodied affect, yet ambiguity remains regarding the mechanism(s) involved. Two s...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Emotion (Washington, D.C.) D.C.), 2007-05, Vol.7 (2), p.447-457
Main Authors: Moody, Eric J, McIntosh, Daniel N, Mann, Laura J, Weisser, Kimberly R
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adolescent
Adult
Affectivity. Emotion
Anger - physiology
Arousal - physiology
Behavioral psychophysiology
Biological and medical sciences
Electromyography
Electrophysiology
Emotional Responses
Emotions - physiology
Face Perception
Facial Expression
Facial Expressions
Facial Muscles - innervation
Fear - physiology
Female
Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology
Human
Humans
Imitative Behavior - physiology
Male
Motor Neurons - physiology
Pattern Recognition, Visual - physiology
Personality. Affectivity
Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry
Psychology. Psychophysiology
Reaction Time - physiology
Social interactions. Communication. Group processes
Social psychology
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Summary:Within a second of seeing an emotional facial expression, people typically match that expression. These rapid facial reactions (RFRs), often termed mimicry, are implicated in emotional contagion, social perception, and embodied affect, yet ambiguity remains regarding the mechanism(s) involved. Two studies evaluated whether RFRs to faces are solely nonaffective motor responses or whether emotional processes are involved. Brow (corrugator, related to anger) and forehead (frontalis, related to fear) activity were recorded using facial electromyography (EMG) while undergraduates in two conditions (fear induction vs. neutral) viewed fear, anger, and neutral facial expressions. As predicted, fear induction increased fear expressions to angry faces within 1000 ms of exposure, demonstrating an emotional component of RFRs. This did not merely reflect increased fear from the induction, because responses to neutral faces were unaffected. Considering RFRs to be merely nonaffective automatic reactions is inaccurate. RFRs are not purely motor mimicry; emotion influences early facial responses to faces. The relevance of these data to emotional contagion, autism, and the mirror system-based perspectives on imitation is discussed.
ISSN:1528-3542
1931-1516
DOI:10.1037/1528-3542.7.2.447