Theories on the Facial Feedback Effect
Charles Darwin and William James are credited for the concepts that led to the facial feedback hypothesis. Darwin claimed that enhancing or inhibiting an emotional expression would alter the intensity of the emotional experience (Darwin, 1872). James proposed an even stronger correlation and indicated that the face could have an initiating role in the experience of emotion (James, 1884), which instigated a debate on the subject that lasted decades. By the mid-twentieth century, most psychologists believed that facial expression could only modulate an emotional experience (Allport, 1922; Gellhorn, 1964). However, some psychologists came to support an initiating role over time, as James had proposed (Strack et al., 1988; Levenson, Ekman, & Friesen, 1990; Soussignan, 2002).
Facial Feedback Research
The term facial feedback was coined in the 1960s, and in the 1970s, 80s, and 90s experimental studies of the FFH flourished, with most yielding data indicating facial feedback’s role in emotion processes (McCanne & Anderson, 1987). During the 21st century, FFH studies have continued, many utilizing modern technologies such as electromyography (EMG), electroencephalography (EEG), positron emission tomography (PET), and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to more objectively quantify facial expressions and neural activity, providing a basis for the hypothesized relationships.
More Facial Feedback Hypotheses
Tourangeau and Ellsworth (1979) identified three potential explanations for the Facial Feedback Hypothesis:
- The necessity hypothesis suggests that facial expression must be present for a subjective emotional experience;
- The sufficiency hypothesis proposes a facial expression is sufficient to initiate an emotional experience;
- The monotonicity hypothesis suggests that the intensity of facial expression will have a positive, monotonic (unchanging) correlation with the intensity of the subjective emotion.
To test their hypotheses, Tourangeau and Ellsworth had 123 college students tighten specific facial muscles to create a facial expression typical for either fear, sadness, or a non-emotional grimace while watching a two-minute film eliciting fear, sadness, or no emotion. Subjects then reported their subjective fear and sadness. Results showed that the subject of the film affected the student’s self-reported ratings of fear and sadness (P < 0.05 for each), while only a very slight correlation was found between manipulated facial expression and self-reported fear (r = 0.01) and sadness (r = 0.02).
Tourangeau and Ellsworth’s study results did not support the facial feedback hypothesis; however, their study was later criticized by Izard (1981) for multiple flaws in the premise (e.g., ignoring the impact of covert facial expressions, possible differences in physiological responses in voluntary and involuntary facial expressions) and protocol (e.g., the effort of holding a pose for two minutes; incongruence between sensory stimuli and face; insufficient diversity in self-report scales). Nevertheless, their suggested terms would help frame future FFH research, which included studying natural facial expressions during emotional states (Hess et al., 1992), studying emotions created by manipulated facial expressions (Strack et al., 1988; Levenson, Ekman, & Friesen, 1990; Soussignan, 2002), and suppressing or enhancing facial displays during emotionally arousing stimuli (McCanne & Anderson, 1987; Lee et al., 2012).
The sufficiency and monotonicity-based FFH hypotheses have been researched more thoroughly and are generally supported (Strack et al., 1988; Soussignan, 2002; Lewis, 2012), while the necessity hypothesis has been less researched and accepted (Fernández-Dols & Ruiz-Belda, 1995). Additional FFH research has examined discrete emotions (e.g., anger, fear, happiness) versus dimensional (e.g., valence and arousal) (Adelmann & Zajonc, 1989; Soussignan, 2004) and the subject’s awareness of facial manipulation (Strack, 1988; Larsen et al., 1992; Soussignan, 2002).
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References
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