IROM-2007We feel sorry because we cry:

A test of the passive facial feedback hypothesis

【 Purpose 】To examine experimentally whether an artif

icial tearing would cause an emotion of sadness.

Kazuo MoriTokyo University of Agriculture and Technology

William James [1842 – 1910]

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. (James, 1884)

Cannon-Bard theory of emotion

• “I see a spider. I am afraid. I begin to perspire.”

• STIMULUS (Bear) --> EMOTION (Fear) --> REACTION/RESPONSE (Run Away)

Walter Bradford Cannon: [1871-1945]

Facial Feedback Hypothesis:The modern version of James-Lange theory

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

Facial expressions

Emotional experience

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.

Facial Feedback Hypothesis:Larsen, 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.

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.

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.

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

0

10

20

30

40

50

Sad Neutral Cheerful Mixed

Cheeks

Temples

Results：

Water dropping on the cheeks tended to cause the sad emotion more often than the cheerfulness.

References• Buck, R. (1980). Nonverbal behavior and the theory of emotio

n: 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 fu

rrowed 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.

Acknowledgments

The manuscript based on this research has been submitted to Perceptual and Motor Skills. The research was a collaboration of Hideko Mori of Bunka Women’s University Nagano College.I am indebted to Rebecca Ann Marck of Shinshu University for her kind help in preparation of the presentation slides.