Because emotion is a construct, it is not directly observable. In conducting research on emotion, psychologists usually observe and make inferences about expressions of emotion.
Although the study of verbal expression of emotion - saying what one is feeling - is most direct, it is also subject to the bias and distortion of self-report. For this reason researchers are more likely to study nonverbal expressions of emotion.
Facial Expressions
1. Univeral Expressions
Evolutionary theorist Charles Darwin orignally proposed that facial expressions of emotion have specific survival value and are part of our biological heritage. This would explain such phenomena as the universality of a smile as a facial sign of happiness.
Modern research by Caroll Izard suggests that this evolutionary history of emotion can be read in the distinctive (and not-yet-learned) facial expressions of infants.
Cross-cultural research by Paul Ekman and colleagues has indicated that, while cultures vary in many norms for facial expressions of emotion, six emotions are universally recognizable:happiness, sadness, fear, anger, disgust and surprise.
2. Individual Differences
There is considerable individual variation in facial affect or the facial expression of emotion. In one study by Ross Buck, subjects who acted as 'sender' examined emotionally arousing visual stimuli, pictures of scenes and events that aroused various emotions. While they viewed these stimuli, a video camera focused on each sender's face transmitted the face alone to another room where a subject actin gas a 'receiver' watched.
Results indicated gender differences in both sending and receiving: the emotions of female senders were more accurately identified by receivers, and female receivers more accurately identified senders' emotions.
In addition, senders who were hard to 'read' (ie. whose faces showed little emotional expression) were found to experience higher measurable levels of physiological arousal than senders whose faces were expressive and easy to 'read'. In other words, poker-faced people seemed to be 'internalizing' their emotional experiences, while expressive-faced 'externalizers' showed less internal arousal. This finding has led to speculation that facial expressions are causally related to physiological arousal.
Although the study of verbal expression of emotion - saying what one is feeling - is most direct, it is also subject to the bias and distortion of self-report. For this reason researchers are more likely to study nonverbal expressions of emotion.
Facial Expressions
1. Univeral Expressions
Evolutionary theorist Charles Darwin orignally proposed that facial expressions of emotion have specific survival value and are part of our biological heritage. This would explain such phenomena as the universality of a smile as a facial sign of happiness.
Modern research by Caroll Izard suggests that this evolutionary history of emotion can be read in the distinctive (and not-yet-learned) facial expressions of infants.
Cross-cultural research by Paul Ekman and colleagues has indicated that, while cultures vary in many norms for facial expressions of emotion, six emotions are universally recognizable:happiness, sadness, fear, anger, disgust and surprise.
2. Individual Differences
There is considerable individual variation in facial affect or the facial expression of emotion. In one study by Ross Buck, subjects who acted as 'sender' examined emotionally arousing visual stimuli, pictures of scenes and events that aroused various emotions. While they viewed these stimuli, a video camera focused on each sender's face transmitted the face alone to another room where a subject actin gas a 'receiver' watched.
Results indicated gender differences in both sending and receiving: the emotions of female senders were more accurately identified by receivers, and female receivers more accurately identified senders' emotions.
In addition, senders who were hard to 'read' (ie. whose faces showed little emotional expression) were found to experience higher measurable levels of physiological arousal than senders whose faces were expressive and easy to 'read'. In other words, poker-faced people seemed to be 'internalizing' their emotional experiences, while expressive-faced 'externalizers' showed less internal arousal. This finding has led to speculation that facial expressions are causally related to physiological arousal.
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