A function of facial mimicry in emotional communication

2014 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 24730639
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Young Scientists (B)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Research Field: Experimental psychology
• Research Institution: National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (2014); Institute of Physical and Chemical Research (2012-2013)
• Principal Investigator: FUJIMURA Tomomi 独立行政法人産業技術総合研究所, ヒューマンライフテクノロジー研究部門, 研究員 (90623992)
• Project Period (FY): 2012-04-01 – 2015-03-31
• Keywords: 感情 / 表情 / コミュニケーション

Outline of Final Research Achievements

This study was aimed to reveal psychological basis of emotional communication by focusing unconscious facial reactions to others’ facial expressions of emotion. One of the experiments investigated how trustworthiness of others influence facial reactions. The results showed that corrugator activities (i.e., frown) in response to sad faces displayed by untrustworthy others were more inhibited than those displayed by trustworthy others. This result suggest that people inhibit facial expressions congruent with sad faces displayed by a untrustworthy person because showing empathy to sad emotion incurs high social cost.

Free Research Field

感情心理学