Appraisal-Driven Facial Actions as Building Blocks for Emotion Inference

Article Article scientifique Article Appraisal-Driven Facial Actions as Building Blocks for Emotion Inference eng 2018 author Scherer Klaus R. 0000-0001-9526-0144 22696 author Mortillaro Marcello 0000-0002-1785-6732 651081 author Rotondi Irène 647906 author Sergi Ilaria 806013 author Trznadel Stéphanie 763339 358-379 10.1037/pspa0000107 29461080 0022-3514 Although research on facial emotion recognition abounds, there has been little attention on the nature of the underlying mechanisms. In this article, using a "reverse engineering" approach, we suggest that emotion inference from facial expression mirrors the expression process. As a strong case can be made for an appraisal theory account of emotional expression, which holds that appraisal results directly determine the nature of facial muscle actions, we claim that observers first detect specific appraisals from different facial muscle actions and then use implicit inference rules to categorize and name specific emotions. We report three experiments in which, guided by theoretical predictions and past empirical evidence, we systematically manipulated specific facial action units individually and in different configurations via synthesized avatar expressions. Large, diverse groups of participants judged the resulting videos for the underlying appraisals and/or the ensuing emotions. The results confirm that participants can infer targeted appraisals and emotions from synthesized facial actions based on appraisal predictions. We also report evidence that the ability to correctly interpret the synthesized stimuli is highly correlated with emotion recognition ability as part of emotional competence. We conclude by highlighting the importance of adopting a theory-based experimental approach in future research, focusing on the dynamic unfolding of facial expressions of emotion. (PsycINFO Database Record Dewey 128.37 Swiss National Science Foundation 100014-122491 CH Autre Advanced Grant PROPEREMO (230331) 15 Centre interfacultaire en sciences affectives 0D8 false 1241 Affective sciences Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 114 3 1a022fd4-fcf3-4c9d-8b7b-f292c33912e6 Article (Published version) Public Schereretal_2018_recognitionofappraisalsintheface_JPSP.pdf 1269844 application/pdf openAccess Centres et instituts / Centre interfacultaire en sciences affectives

Title	Published in	Access level	OA Policy	Year	Views	Downloads

Appraisal-Driven Facial Actions as Building Blocks for Emotion Inference	Journal of Personality and Social Psychology			2018	764	3,772

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