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Published on: July 6, 2011
On What Can We Agree?: Principles Endorsed by Facial Affect Researchers across Theoretical Perspectives and
Michelle N Shiota1, Carley Vornlocher1, Rachael E Jack2
1Department of Psychology, Arizona State University, P.O. Box 871104, Tempe, AZ USA.
Abstract:
Research linking facial muscle movement to emotion and other affective experience has been central to affective science throughout the field's history. Though the study of facial affect has often been contentious, it is possible that researchers currently working in this field agree on more than is commonly recognized. In the present study, 55 actively publishing facial affect researchers indicated their agreement, agreement with reservations, or disagreement with 23 statements regarding the nature of and best practices for research on facial affect, generated through a process akin to the Delphi method for developing consensus statements. Agreement (with or without reservations) exceeded 95% of participants for 11 statements, and 90% for four more. Participants also provided thoughtful, nuanced, mechanism-oriented comments on the statements, indicating strikingly high agreement on many fundamental theoretical and methodological issues. Implications for future research are discussed.
Supplementary Information:
The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s42761-026-00360-1.
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