Related Experiment Video
Updated: Apr 30, 2026

Using Facial Electromyography to Assess Facial Muscle Reactions to Experienced and Observed Affective Touch in Humans
Published on: March 15, 2019
Communal and agentic behaviour in response to facial emotion expressions
Marije aan het Rot1, Koen Hogenelst, Christina M Gesing
1Department of Psychology, University of Groningen, The Netherlands.
Abstract:
Facial emotions are important for human communication. Unfortunately, traditional facial emotion recognition tasks do not inform about how respondents might behave towards others expressing certain emotions. Approach-avoidance tasks do measure behaviour, but only on one dimension. In this study 81 participants completed a novel Facial Emotion Response Task. Images displaying individuals with emotional expressions were presented in random order. Participants simultaneously indicated how communal (quarrelsome vs. agreeable) and how agentic (dominant vs. submissive) they would be in response to each expression. We found that participants responded differently to happy, angry, fearful, and sad expressions in terms of both dimensions of behaviour. Higher levels of negative affect were associated with less agreeable responses specifically towards happy and sad expressions. The Facial Emotion Response Task might complement existing facial emotion recognition and approach-avoidance tasks.
More Related Videos
07:12Protocol for Data Collection and Analysis Applied to Automated Facial Expression Analysis Technology and Temporal Analysis for Sensory Evaluation
Published on: August 26, 2016
05:51Exploring the Use of Isolated Expressions and Film Clips to Evaluate Emotion Recognition by People with Traumatic Brain Injury
Published on: May 15, 2016
Related Concept Videos
Facial Feedback Hypothesis
Emotional Expression
Universal Facial Expressions
Psychologist Paul Ekman identified seven basic...
Causes of Social Behavior I: Actions and Characteristics of Individuals
Nonconscious Mimicry
Therapeutic Communication
Verbal communication depends on language or a prescribed way of using words so that people can share information effectively. The critical aspects of verbal...
Coping Strategies: Emotion Focused