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Related Experiment Videos

Show your pride: evidence for a discrete emotion expression.

Jessica L Tracy1, Richard W Robins

  • 1Department of Psychology, University of California, Davis 95616-8686, USA. jltracy@ucdavis.edu

Psychological Science
|March 17, 2004
PubMed
Summary

Pride has a unique facial and body expression that observers can recognize. These findings suggest pride may be a basic emotion with an evolved, distinct expression.

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Area of Science:

  • Psychology
  • Nonverbal Communication
  • Emotion Science

Background:

  • The expression of positive emotions is often assumed to be universal.
  • Research has primarily focused on basic emotions like happiness and sadness, with less attention to pride's expression.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To determine if pride has a distinct, recognizable nonverbal expression.
  • To investigate the specific components of the pride expression.
  • To challenge the assumption of a shared expression for all positive emotions.

Main Methods:

  • Three experiments were conducted involving judges identifying posed emotional expressions.
  • Experiment 1 used a forced-choice format comparing pride to happiness.
  • Experiment 2 used an open-ended response format without labeling the emotion.
  • Experiment 3 analyzed the specific physical components of the pride expression.

Main Results:

  • Judges reliably identified posed pride expressions.
  • Pride expressions were distinguished from happiness expressions.
  • The pride expression was recognizable even without explicit labeling.
  • Key components include a slight smile, head tilted back, expanded posture, and raised arms or hands on hips.

Conclusions:

  • Pride possesses a distinct and recognizable nonverbal expression.
  • These findings challenge the notion that all positive emotions share a common expression.
  • Pride may be considered a basic, evolved emotion with a unique expressive signature.

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