Content uploaded by Thomas Rutledge
Author content
All content in this area was uploaded by Thomas Rutledge on Dec 10, 2015
Content may be subject to copyright.
A preview of the PDF is not available
Effects of Self-Generated Facial Expressions on Mood
Abstract
Two experiments were conducted in which participants looked at photographs (Experiment 1, n = 129) or slides (Experiment 2, n = 90) of people engaging in positive or negative facial expressions. Participants attempted to communicate these facial expressions as accurately as they could to a video camera while viewing themselves in a mirror or without viewing themselves in a mirror. Participants in a control group maintained neutral facial expressions. Participants experienced increased positive moods when they engaged in positive facial expressions and decreased positive moods when they engaged in negative facial expressions. These effects were enhanced when participants viewed themselves in a mirror. The effects of facial expressions on positive affect were stronger for participants with high private self-consciousness. Results were integrated with research identifying individuals who are responsive to self-produced versus situational cues and with theory and research on self-awareness.
... Ein alternativer Mechanismus könnte sein, dass die unterschiedlichen Gesichtsausdrücke zu einer Veränderung der Bluttemperatur im Kopf führen, was von Zajonc et al. (1989) als mögliche Ursache für eine Veränderung des subjektiven Wohlbefindens gewertet wird. Kleinke et al. (1998) ...
... Ohne sich sehen zu können, gab es keine vergleichbare Korrelation. Das passt auch zu den Ergebnissen von Kleinke et al. (1998) im Zusammenhang mit der Facial-Feedback-Hypothese, wonach das Sehen des eigenen Spiegelbildes dazu führt, dass die Stimmung noch stärker steigt. Daher sollte bei der ELAπ das Kamerabild auf dem Bildschirm angezeigt werden (siehe Abbildung 3.2). ...
... Schließlich sind viele Menschen es längst gewöhnt, in eine Smartphone-Kamera zu lächeln. Möglich ist ebenso, dass die Vorschau des eigenen Bildes auf dem Bildschirm einen unterstützenden Einfluss hatte, ähnlich wie es Kleinke et al. (1998), ausgelöst durch einen Spiegel, beobachten konnten. Dazu sollten weitere experimentelle Untersuchungen durchgeführt werden, bei denen verschiedene Versionen der ELAπ miteinander verglichen werden. ...
Viele technische Entwicklungen sollen die Produktivität steigern aber vernachlässigen das Wohlbefinden der Nutzerinnen und Nutzer. Dabei macht nach der Facial-Feedback-Hypothese bereits Lächeln glücklich. Auf den Grundlagen des Positive Computing wurde in dieser Arbeit eine Echtzeit-Lächelerkennung als positive Interaktionsform (ELAπ) entwickelt, die das Lächeln einer Person als Eingabemöglichkeit nutzt. Zum Testen dieser wurde eine Demo-Anwendung einer Achtsamkeitsübung für Android und iOS Geräte programmiert, wobei das ML Kit für die Mimikerkennung verwendet wurde. Die App wurde in einem Cross-over Feldexperiment von 51 Versuchspersonen (29 weiblich, 21 männlich, 1 divers; M = 34.35 Jahre, SD = 14.83 Jahre) mindestens acht Tage lang genutzt.
Um Achtsamkeit und Wohlbefinden (operationalisiert durch Aktivierung und Freude) zu untersuchen, wurden ein Affective Slider (AS) und der Freiburger Fragebogen zur Achtsamkeit (FFA) verwendet. Im Vergleich zur Interaktion mit einem Button als Kontrollbedingung, zeigte sich durch die ELAπ eine signifikant größere Steigerung der Freude (t (48) = 2.76, p = .008, d = 0.40). Die neue Interaktionsform konnte den entspannenden Effekt der Achtsamkeitsübung nicht verstärken (t (49) = 0.83, p = .411, d = 0.12). Die Versuchspersonen waren nach Verwendung der ELAπ wacher als vor der Interaktion. Bereits acht Atemübungen führten bei den Versuchspersonen in dieser Studie zu einer erhöhten Achtsamkeit (F (2, 96) = 3.53, p = .033, η 2 p = .07).
Die hier entwickelte Lösung zeigt, dass ein einfaches Lächeln als Interaktion die Freude erhöht und damit eine Smartphone-Anwendung in eine positive Technologie transformiert werden könnte, die Wohlbefinden fördert. Denkbar wäre zum Beispiel der Einsatz der ELAπ als Alternative zu einem Button, sofern keine zeitkritische Eingabe notwendig ist. Wie die Follow-up Befragung zeigte, schien rund die Hälfte der Versuchspersonen (N = 29) das Lächeln als Interaktionsform in der App gegenüber dem Button zu bevorzugen.
... It's the exact opposite of how most people see the smile-happiness connection …." 12 In effect, these studies turn the assumed arrow of causation in reverse. 13 One of the most influential smilehappiness studies was that of social psychologist Robert Zajonc in 1989. He asked subjects to produce vowel sounds that forced their face into various expressions. ...
... 22 Dr. Nancy Frasure-Smith, of the Montreal Heart Institute, found that heart patients who scored high on pessimism were eight times more likely than optimists to die over the course of 18 months. 13 Dr. Geoffrey Reed, of the University of California, Los Angeles, showed that fatalism, optimism's polar opposite, and the loss of friends predicted negative outcomes in patients with HIV disease. 13 Many people find it difficult to follow an optimistic personal script about aging. ...
... Geoffrey Reed, of the University of California, Los Angeles, showed that fatalism, optimism's polar opposite, and the loss of friends predicted negative outcomes in patients with HIV disease. 13 Many people find it difficult to follow an optimistic personal script about aging. It is understandable. ...
... The smiling manipulation may thus have activated the corresponding affective system in the participants and consequently resulted in a positive mood, which in turn helps to store congruent information in memory. Previous studies consistently demonstrated that FFM can systematically induce and modulate mood [46][47][48] . Further, some evidence suggests that mood itself can influence memory performance 49,50 . ...
The perception and storage of facial emotional expressions constitutes an important human skill that is essential for our daily social interactions. While previous research revealed that facial feedback can influence the perception of facial emotional expressions, it is unclear whether facial feedback also plays a role in memory processes of facial emotional expressions. In the present study we investigated the impact of facial feedback on the performance in emotional visual working memory (WM). For this purpose, 37 participants underwent a classical facial feedback manipulation (FFM) (holding a pen with the teeth—inducing a smiling expression vs. holding a pen with the non-dominant hand—as a control condition) while they performed a WM task on varying intensities of happy or sad facial expressions. Results show that the smiling manipulation improved memory performance selectively for happy faces, especially for highly ambiguous facial expressions. Furthermore, we found that in addition to an overall negative bias specifically for happy faces (i.e. happy faces are remembered as more negative than they initially were), FFM induced a positivity bias when memorizing emotional facial information (i.e. faces were remembered as being more positive than they actually were). Finally, our data demonstrate that men were affected more by FFM: during induced smiling men showed a larger positive bias than women did. These data demonstrate that facial feedback not only influences our perception but also systematically alters our memory of facial emotional expressions.
... In spite of such recent distinctive trends in communication, however, emotional contagion through our online communication has not been well investigated yet. More specifically, the occurrence of the "first stage" on online communication is not well studied, while various studies already confirmed the existence of the second stage (Tsujita and Rekimoto 2011;Kleinke et al. 1998). ...
Happiness is obviously one of the most fundamental essence that affects many aspects of our lives. Past research found that happiness of one person affects that of other people. What occurs under this propagation of emotion is called “emotional contagion,” a phenomenon wherein through perception, people experience the same emotion expressed by someone when communicating with them. Although online communication is increasing due to growth of mobile computing, emotional contagion on online communication is not well studied yet. Particularly, it is not yet clear if emotional contagion among people occurs through selfie photographs posted on the social network media. We implemented “SmileWave,” the social networking system for investigating selfie-based emotional contagion. The key feature of SmileWave is detecting “smile degree” in user’s posting selfies and in reactive facial expressions when the user is viewing the posted photographs from others. Our in-the-wild user studies with 38 participants for 2 weeks revealed the occurrence of selfie-based emotional contagion over the social network, based on the results that the users’ smile degree improved (15% on average) when the user looked at posted selfie photographs.
... These intensified emotional reactions were associated with heightened autonomic arousal (increased heart rate and skin conductance). Today, there is evidence that the facial expressive behaviour alone is sufficient to produce an emotion (Flack, 2006;Kleinke, Peterson, & Rutledge, 1998). ...
... In this research, we aim to reveal how emotional contagion occurs and propagates on the social network and particularly spotlight smile selfie photos as communication media. Since the second stage of emotional contagion is independent on the differences of communication, such as on-line or off-line, and since various studies already confirmed the existence of the second stage [2,4], overall smiling image-based emotional contagion on social network will be confirmed if we can confirm the occurrence of the first stage on selfie-based photo social media. ...
We propose "SmileWave", the first selfie social networking service to reveal the existence of emotional cognation through smiling selfies on the social network. We conducted multiple rounds of in-the-wild user studies with 86 cumulative total users for total duration of 5 weeks. Throughout the entire study, we confirmed the occurrence of smile-based emotional contagion over social network, not only in the momentary duration but in longer term period.
... Write down three things about your work or workplace for which you genuinely feel grateful today and reflect on them (2002), Kahneman and Krueger (2006), Kleinke, Peterson, and Rutledge (1998), Lewis (2006), Linehan (1993), Shiota, Campos, Keltner, and Hertenstein (2004), Spoor and Kelly (2004), Strack, Martin, and Stepper (1988), Twohig and Peterson (2008) Brainstorming meaningfulness Brainstorm about tasks or elements in your work that you find meaningful or that are significant to you, and create a mind map about sources of meaningful experiences in your job (2001) PERMA: Acronym for the five components of well-being according to well-being theory (Seligman, 2011). P: Positive emotions; E: engagement; R: relationships; M: meaning; A: accomplishment. ...
The purpose of this study was to evaluate a newly developed brief, cost-effective, flexible, and broadly accessible online programme designed to enhance employee well-being. Considering the demands of the working world, the development of the positive intervention (PI) programme was based on empirical findings and latest theoretical advances from the field of positive psychology, namely the PERMA model of well-being. The new PERMA-based programme’s effectiveness to increase employee well-being was evaluated with a longitudinal field experiment, including a wait list control group and an already established PI programme (i.e., gratitude programme) for comparison (three-armed randomized controlled trial; n = 303, Nmale = 99, Nfemale = 203, Mage = 41.16, SD = 12.26). Repeated measures analyses of variance (ANOVAs) supported that on average, participants of the gratitude programme and the PERMA-based programme reported significant increases in employee well-being after the intervention, as compared to no increases in the wait list control group. The significant increases yielded small effect sizes for general subjective well-being and medium effect sizes for work-related subjective well-being. Post-hoc analyses controlling for baseline well-being also supported the efficacy of the PIs. Contrary to the prediction of the PERMA-based programme’s superiority, participants of both online PI programmes reported similar gains in employee well-being components. Practical implications, limitations, and future research are discussed.
... " subsequent micro-intervention sessions; and (iii) to think of a picture that might help them to recall this technique during the micro-intervention sessions, and to describe it in words or draft it. All four psychotherapeutic techniques have been shown to be related to changes in mood (Kleinke et al., 1998; Holmes et al., 2006; Lane et al., 2007; Pollatos et al., 2015), with potential for the treatment of mental disorders (Ito et al., 2001; Holmes et al., 2007; Orme-Johnson and Barnes, 2014; Lin et al., 2015). ...
Background:
Using mobile communication technology as new personalized approach to treat mental disorders or to more generally improve quality of life is highly promising. Knowledge about intervention components that target key psychopathological processes in terms of transdiagnostic psychotherapy approaches is urgently needed. We explored the use of smartphone-based micro-interventions based on psychotherapeutic techniques, guided by short video-clips, to elicit mood changes.
Method:
As part of a larger neurofeedback study, all subjects-after being randomly assigned to an experimental or control neurofeedback condition-underwent daily smartphone-based micro-interventions for 13 consecutive days. They were free to choose out of provided techniques, including viscerosensory attention, emotional imagery, facial expression, and contemplative repetition. Changes in mood were assessed in real world using the Multidimensional Mood State Questionnaire (scales: good-bad, GB; awake-tired, AT; and calm-nervous, CN).
Results:
Twenty-seven men participated on at least 11 days and were thus included in the analyses. Altogether, they underwent 335, generally well-tolerated, micro-intervention sessions, with viscerosensory attention (178 sessions, 53.13%) and contemplative repetition (68 sessions, 20.30%) being the most frequently applied techniques. Mixed models indicated that subjects showed better mood [GB: b = 0.464, 95%confidence interval (CI) [0.068, 0.860], t (613.3) = 2.298, p = 0.022] and became more awake [AT: b = 0.514, 95%CI [0.103, 0.925], t (612.4) = 2.456, p = 0.014] and calmer [CN: b = 0.685, 95%CI [0.360, 1.010], t (612.3) = 4.137, p < 0.001] from pre- to post-micro-intervention. These mood improvements from pre- to post-micro-intervention were associated with changes in mood from the 1st day until the last day with regard to GB mood (r = 0.614, 95%CI [0.297, 0.809], p < 0.001), but not AT mood (r = 0.279, 95%CI [-0.122, 0.602], p = 0.167) and CN mood (r = 0.277, 95%CI [0.124, 0.601], p = 0.170).
Discussion:
Our findings provide evidence for the applicability of smartphone-based micro-interventions eliciting short-term mood changes, based on techniques used in psychotherapeutic approaches, such as mindfulness-based psychotherapy, transcendental meditation, and other contemplative therapies. The results encourage exploring these techniques' capability to improve mood in randomized controlled studies and patients. Smartphone-based micro-interventions are promising to modify mood in real-world settings, complementing other psychotherapeutic interventions, in line with the precision medicine approach. The here presented data were collected within a randomized trial, registered at ClinicalTrials.gov (Identifier: NCT01921088) https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT01921088.
Agents like human, such as humanoid robots or avatars can be felt as if they have and communicate and communicate due to manipulation of the bodily information. Meanwhile, as in the case of Internet bot, it is still difficult to communiate the emotion described as text, let alone empathizing due to degradation of information online. The current study proposes a method for experiencing emotion on the Internet by reproducing a mechanism of evoking emotion. This method evokes a number of emotions described on the Web, by changing of self-physiological perception with sensory stimuli. To investigate the feasibility of our method, we made a system named "Communious Mouse." This system rewrites the perception of self-skin temperature and pulse in a palm by presenting vibration and thermal stimulation through a mouse device for evoking emotion. The current paper discusses the feasibility of our method based on the obtained feedbacks through an exhibition of the system.
Publisher Summary Individuals come to “know” their own attitudes, emotions, and other internal states partially by inferring them from observations of their own overt behavior and/ or the circumstances in which this behavior occurs. Thus, to the extent that internal cues are weak, ambiguous, or uninterpretable, the individual is functionally in the same position as an outside observer, an observer who must necessarily rely upon those same external cues to infer the individual's inner states. This chapter traces the conceptual antecedents and empirical consequences of these propositions, attempts to place the theory in a slightly enlarged frame of reference, and clarifies just what phenomena the theory can and cannot account for in the rapidly growing experimental literature of self-attribution phenomena. Several experiments and paradigms from the cognitive dissonance literature are amenable to self-perception interpretations. But precisely because such experiments are subject to alternative interpretations, they cannot be used as unequivocal evidence for self-perception theory. The reinterpretation of cognitive dissonance phenomena and other self-perception phenomena have been discussed. The chapter highlights some differences between self-perception and interpersonal perception and shift of paradigm in social psychology. It discusses some unsolved problems, such as the conceptual status of noncognitive response classes and the strategy of functional analysis.
Two studies were conducted to investigate weight differences in emotional responsiveness to proprioceptiv e and pictorial stimuli. Contrary to past evidence that overweight persons are more emotional than normals, the emotional state of normal-weight subjects fluctuated with manipulations of their facial expression, whereas that of overweight subjects did not respond to these proprioceptive cues. Furthermore, whereas past research employing affectively loaded pictures had found overweight persons to be more emotionally responsive than normals to these external stimuli, no weight differences were obtained in the present studies, which employed less polarized pictures. Implications of these findings for generalizations about weight differences in emotionality are discussed. A comprehensive search for similarities in the behavior of obese humans and rats has produced the very interesting observation that "the emotionality of the VMH lesioned animal [who suffers from surgically induced obesity] is paralleled by the emotionality of the obese human" (Schachter & Rodin, 1974, p. 20). The conclusion that overweight humans are more emotional than people of normal weight derives from evidence that the overweight are more emotionally responsive than normals to salient external cues. For example, Rodin, Elman, and Schachter (1974) found that overweight subjects were more disturbed and more distracted than normals by emotional auditory tapes, but not by neutral tapes. They also found that strong shocks disrupted the maze learning of the overweight more than normals, although weak shocks did not. Similarly, Pliner (1974) found that overweight subjects rated positive and negative emotional slides more extremely than normals did, although there was no difference in their respective ratings of affectively neutral slides.
This chapter focuses on the theory of objective self-awareness. It presents the theory of objective self-awareness as it stands presently: Conscious attention is viewed as dichotomous, having the property of being directed either toward the self or toward the environment. The direction of attention is guided by events that force attention inward, such as reflections of the self, and events that pull attention outward, such as distracting stimuli outside the self. Under objective self-awareness, the person will experience either negative or positive affect depending on whether attention is directed toward a negative or a positive discrepancy. The chapter illustrates the operation of a principle that is new to the theory. There are three studies relevant to this new proposition—two on self-esteem and one on attribution. Escaping objective self-awareness has been highlighted. The evolved theory of objective self-awareness has ramifications for three conceptual phenomena: (1) The initial reaction to self-focused attention is self-evaluation, which can be either favorable or unfavorable, depending on the nature of the salient within-self discrepancy; (2) The onset of self-focused attention generates attempts to avoid mirrors and similar stimuli, given that salient discrepancies are negative, and in experimentation, attention can be taken from the self through passive diversions as well as through motor activities; (3) If there is no escape from self-focusing stimuli, discrepancy reduction will then follow.
