Importance of facial expressions

Importance of Facial Expressions

Usually visible during interaction
Eyes are windows to the

Functions of Facial Expressions

Reveal personality characteristics
Help us manage and regulate interactions

Evolution and Natural Selection
External Factors
Innate and Learned

Perspectives on Acquisition and Development

Facial expressions
Inborn
Children born deaf and blind possess fundamental expressions of

Contribute to facial behavior
Environment
Social rules
Culture
Taught appropriate facial behaviors for certain

Primary facial expressions linked to primary emotions from birth
SADFISH
As children

Culturally-Specific Differences

Circumstances that elicit certain emotions
Consequences that follow certain emotional

Facial Management

Techniques learned early to the point of being automatic
Four

Repression of expressions
Related to emotions felt
Replacement with more acceptable

Exaggerating what we feel
Expression of emotion far beyond what we feel

Neutralization

Elimination of any expression of emotion
Others are unaware of what we

Deintensification

Reducing the intensity of facial expression
Circumstances require us to downplay

Withholder
Revealer
Unwitting expressor
Blanked expressor
Substitute expressor
Frozen-affect expressor
Ever-ready expressor
Flooded-affect expressor

Styles of Facial Expressions

Seldom has any facial movement
Face inhibits display of actual feelings
Constantly use

Reverse of withholder style
Always shows true feelings
Described as wearing hearts on

Believes they do a good job of masking true feelings
Unknowingly leak

Display ambiguous or neutral expressions when they believe they’re displaying emotion
Feeling

Substitute Expressor

Substitutes one emotional expression for another
Try to show happiness, but

Frozen-Affect Expressor

Always manifests at least part of a particular emotional expression
Wears

Displays one particular emotion as an initial response to almost any

Constantly flood their faces with a particular emotion
Never appears neutral
Temporary expression

FAST
Separates face into three areas
Lower face (cheeks, nose, mouth)
Eyes and

Cheeks are most likely to expose true emotions
Emotional changes of color

Lower Face: Mouth

Mouth works overtime
Talking
Whistling
Singing
Smiling
Laughing
Kissing
Described as the battleground of the face
One

Lower Face: Nose

Resonator or shield to protect
Eyes from injury
Against water
Against

Eyes and Eyelids

80% of information about the outside world enters through

Brows and Forehead

Multiple expressions and emotions
Lowering eyebrows is frowning
Raising eyebrows can

Research on FAST

Sadness and fear come through the eyes
Anger not

Variations of Facial Expressions

Affect blends
Partials
Micromomentary facial expressions

Affect Blends

Multiple facial expressions at one time
Example:
Anger in eyes
Disgust in lower

Partials

Revealing an emotion in only one area
Successfully controlling other two

Micromomentary Facial Expressions

Brief, fleeting expressions
Usually not observable in normal conversation
Change so