Mood migration: How enfacing a smile makes you happier

Area of Science:

• Social Psychology
• Virtual Reality Studies
• Affective Science

Background:

• The enfacement illusion describes the tendency to perceive another's face as one's own when experiencing synchronous tactile stimulation.
• Previous research established the enfacement illusion through physical touch, but its extension to virtual environments was unexplored.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the replication of the enfacement illusion in a virtual reality (VR) setting.
• To determine if enfacing a virtual face, controlled by one's own movements, leads to the adoption of the virtual face's expressed emotion.

Main Methods:

• A VR environment was created where participants' facial movements controlled a virtual face.
• Participants experienced synchronous visual feedback of the virtual face mirroring their own head and facial movements.
• Emotional adoption was assessed through self-reported valence scores and performance on a mood-sensitive divergent-thinking task.

Main Results:

• Participants demonstrated the enfacement illusion in the VR environment, reporting a stronger sense of self in relation to the virtual face.
• When presented with a happy virtual face that moved synchronously with their own movements, participants reported higher valence scores.
• Performance on the divergent-thinking task improved when participants enfaced a happy virtual face, suggesting mood adoption.

Conclusions:

• The enfacement illusion can be successfully replicated and extended into virtual reality environments.
• Synchronous control over a virtual face's movements facilitates "mood migration," where individuals adopt the emotions expressed by the virtual entity.
• This research highlights the potential for virtual interactions to influence emotional states and self-perception.