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Updated: Jul 13, 2026

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Published on: March 1, 2017
On the expression and experience of surprise: no evidence for facial feedback, but evidence for a reverse
Rainer Reisenzein1, Markus Studtmann
1Institute of Psychology, University of Greifswald, Franz-Mehring-Strasse 47, 17487 Greifswald, Germany. rainer.reisenzein@uni-greifswald.de
Abstract:
Three studies examined the effects of experimentally manipulated surprise expressions on the experience of surprise. Surprise was induced by a sudden, unannounced change of the stimulus presentation during a computerized task. Facial expression was manipulated by leading participants to adopt an expression akin to surprise, or by forcing them to look up steeply to a monitor. The expression manipulations had no intensifying effect on the experience of surprise, whereas manipulations of unexpectedness and mental load had strong effects. In addition, mental load was found to affect beliefs about facial expression, suggesting that the participants used their feelings of surprise to infer their probable facial displays. Path analyses supported this reverse self-inference hypothesis.
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