Leaders' smiles reflect cultural differences in ideal affect

Area of Science:

• Cross-cultural psychology
• Social psychology
• Nonverbal communication

Background:

• Cultures cultivate distinct
• ideal affect
• —the emotions individuals aim to feel.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate if leaders' smiles mirror cultural differences in ideal affect.
• To explore the relationship between national ideal affect and leader facial expressions.

Main Methods:

• Comparative analysis of leader facial expressions (smiles) in official photographs across different nations and occupations.
• Self-report measures of ideal affect administered to college students across 10 nations.
• Longitudinal coding of legislator smiles correlated with national ideal affect data.

Main Results:

• American leaders exhibited more "excited" smiles than Chinese leaders, consistent with higher American valuation of high-arousal positive emotions.
• Across the US and Taiwan/China, leaders' smiles reflected national ideal affect preferences, irrespective of political outcomes or hierarchical rank.
• Nations valuing high-arousal positive states had leaders with more excited smiles, while nations valuing low-arousal states had leaders with calmer smiles.

Conclusions:

• Leaders' smiles serve as visible indicators of the prevalent affective states endorsed within their respective cultures.
• Cultural ideal affect significantly shapes the nonverbal emotional expressions of leaders, even after accounting for socioeconomic factors.