APSII020 We feel sorry because we cry: A test of the passive facial feedback hypothesis

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APS-II-020We feel sorry because we cryA test
of the passive facial feedback hypothesis

• ?Purpose?
• To examine experimentally whether an artificial
  tearing would cause an emotion of sadness.
• Kazuo Mori Hideko Mori
• Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology
• Bunka Womens University Nagano College

William James 1842 1910
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James-Lange theory of emotion

• the bodily manifestations must first be
  interposed between and that the more rational
  statement is that we feel sorry because we cry,
  angry because we strike, afraid because we
  tremble, and not that we cry, strike, or tremble,
  because we are sorry, angry, or fearful, as the
  case may be. afraid because we tremble. (James,
  1884)

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Cannon-Bard theory of emotion

• I see a spider. I am afraid. I begin to
  perspire.
• STIMULUS (Bear) --gt EMOTION (Fear) --gt
  REACTION/RESPONSE (Run Away)

Walter Bradford Cannon 1871-1945
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Facial Feedback HypothesisThe modern version of
James-Lange theory

• causal assertion that feedback from facial
  expressions affects emotional experience (Buck,
  1980)

Facial expressions
Emotional experience
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Facial Feedback Hypothesis Strack, Martin, and
Stepper (1988)

• Strack, Martin, and Stepper (1988) investigated
  the hypothesis by having subjects hold a pen in
  their mouth in ways that either inhibited or
  facilitated the muscles typically associated with
  smiling without requiring subjects to pose in a
  smiling face.

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Facial Feedback HypothesisLarsen, Kasimatis,
and Frey (1992)

• Larsen, Kasimatis, and Frey (1992) examined the
  hypothesis by asking participants to move the two
  markers between the eyebrows to the closer
  position, that would make a frowning face without
  requiring them directly to do so.

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Active and Passive Facial Feedback Hypotheses

• Active FFH The muscles associated with emotions
  would cause the emotional sensation.
• Passive FFH The facial cutaneous perception
  would cause the emotional sensation.

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Method Participants and apparatus

• One hundred and eight-nine Japanese
  undergraduates (101 males and 88 females)
  participated.
• One hundred and thirteen were assigned to the
  experimental condition, and 76 to the control
  condition.

• Small plastic pipettes and warmed water were used.

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Method Procedure

• The participants acted as testers and raters in
  turns.
• In the experimental condition, the tester dropped
  about 0.2 ml of warmed water from a small plastic
  pipette near the lacrimal duct of the rater,
  allowing it to run down the medial side of cheek
  like real tears.
• In the control condition, the water dropped on
  the temples of the raters.
• Then, the raters rated their subjective emotion
  on a seven point scale.

Experimental Condition
Control Condition
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Results
Water dropping on the cheeks tended to cause the
sad emotion more often than the cheerfulness.
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References

• Buck, R. (1980). Nonverbal behavior and the
  theory of emotion The facial feedback
  hypothesis. Journal of Personality and Social
  Psychology, 38, 811-824.
• James, W. (1884). What is an Emotion? Mind, 9,
  188-205.
• Larsen, R., Kasimatis, M., Frey, K. (1992).
  Facilitating the furrowed brow an unobtrusive
  test of the facial feedback hypothesis applied to
  unpleasant affect. Cognition and Emotion, 6,
  321-338.
• Strack, F., Martin, L. L., Stepper, S. (1988).
  Inhibiting and facilitating conditions of the
  human smile a non-obtrusive test of the facial
  feedback hypothesis. Journal of Personality and
  Social Psychology, 54, 768-777.

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Acknowledgments
The present research has been published as H.
Mori K. Mori A test of the passive facial
feedback hypothesis We feel sorry because we
cry, Perceptual and Motor Skills, 105,
1242-1244. We are indebted to Rebecca Ann
Marck of Shinshu University for her kind help in
preparation of the posters.