Clusters of nonverbal behavior differentiate truths and lies about future malicious intent in checkpoint screening interviews.

Recent research has shown that nonverbal behavior (NVB) assessed across multiple channels can differentiate truthtellers from liars. No study, however, has examined whether or not multiple NVBs can differentiate truths from lies about intent regarding future malicious behavior, or across multiple cultural/ethnic groups. We address this gap by examining truths and lies about intent to commit a malicious act in the future in brief, checkpoint-type security screening interviews. Data from four NVB channels producing twenty-one observable NVBs were coded and analyzed using different analytic strategies. Clusters of NVB were found to differentiate truthtellers from liars at statistically significant levels, and substantially beyond the ability of human observers. The findings showed that clusters of NVB can differentiate truthtellers from liars even in brief, checkpoint-type interviews.

Reconsidering the Active Psychological Ingredients Underlying Intercultural Adaptation: Implications for International Business.

A major issue facing many businesses today, both large and small, concerns intercultural adaptation, and more broadly, diversity. Many businesses struggle with their employees sent to different countries and cultures to adapt effectively in host cultures, as well as for their home culture employees to adapt effectively to changing environments brought on by visitors from other cultures and other sources of diversity. To address this issue, many tests and measures have been developed to identify the core psychological skills, competencies, and aptitudes underlying intercultural adaptation. Elucidation of such skills and competencies would have multiple theoretical and practical ramifications. A recent review of this literature indicated that three tests - the Multicultural Personality Questionnaire, the Cultural Intelligence Scale, and the Intercultural Adjustment Potential Scale - had the best psychometric evidence for validity to date. No study, however, has examined the statistical overlap among these tests; which scales or combination of scales best predict adaptation; and most importantly, what are possible, yet unassessed, constructs underlying them. The purpose of this study was to examine these three questions initially. Non-immigrant, non-sojourner convenience samples from four countries/language groups completed all three tests and a measure of life satisfaction as a proxy for adaptation. Scales from the three tests were moderately - highly intercorrelated and predicted adaptation. A combination of scales from the tests best predicted adaptation, better than scales from any one test. Analyses examining the latent structures underlying the combined tests suggested several psychological constructs new to the intercultural adaptation literature. We discuss the implications of these findings for theory and application in international business.

Microexpressions Differentiate Truths From Lies About Future Malicious Intent.

The few previous studies testing whether or not microexpressions are indicators of deception have produced equivocal findings, which may have resulted from restrictive operationalizations of microexpression duration. In this study, facial expressions of emotion produced by community participants in an initial screening interview in a mock crime experiment were coded for occurrence and duration. Various expression durations were tested concerning whether they differentiated between truthtellers and liars concerning their intent to commit a malicious act in the future. We operationalized microexpressions as expressions occurring less than the duration of spontaneously occurring, non-concealed, non-repressed facial expressions of emotion based on empirically documented findings, that is ≤0.50 s, and then more systematically ≤0.40, ≤0.30, and ≤0.20 s. We also compared expressions occurring between 0.50 and 6.00 s and all expressions ≤6.00 s. Microexpressions of negative emotions occurring ≤0.40 and ≤0.50 s differentiated truthtellers and liars. Expressions of negative emotions occurring ≤6.00 s also differentiated truthtellers from liars but this finding did not survive when expressions ≤1.00 s were filtered from the data. These findings provided the first systematic evidence for the existence of microexpressions at various durations and their possible ability to differentiate truthtellers from liars about their intent to commit an act of malfeasance in the future.

Emotion and aggressive intergroup cognitions: The ANCODI hypothesis.

Previous research has suggested an important role for the emotion of hatred in intergroup aggression. Recent theoretical and empirical work has strongly suggested that the combination of anger, contempt, and disgust (ANCODI) comprise the basic elements of hatred, and are the key emotions associated with intergroup aggression. No study, however, has provided evidence that these emotions cause hostile cognitions about specific groups. We report two studies that provide initial evidence. In both, participants were members of ideologically motivated groups and were primed with ANCODI. In Study 1 participants primed with ANCODI produced more aggressive cognitions relative to their opponent outgroup than a neutral outgroup; this effect did not occur for participants primed with fear-sadness. In Study 2 participants primed with ANCODI engaged in more competitive decision making against their opponent outgroups than a neutral outgroup; this effect did not occur for participants primed with disgust only. These findings contribute to the literature on the role of emotion in intergroup aggression and hostility, and provide a more nuanced view of the role of emotions in intergroup relations, possibly identifying the basic emotional elements of hatred. Aggr. Behav. 43:93-107, 2017. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Heterogeneity of long-history migration explains cultural differences in reports of emotional expressivity and the functions of smiles.

A small number of facial expressions may be universal in that they are produced by the same basic affective states and recognized as such throughout the world. However, other aspects of emotionally expressive behavior vary widely across culture. Just why do they vary? We propose that some cultural differences in expressive behavior are determined by historical heterogeneity, or the extent to which a country's present-day population descended from migration from numerous vs. few source countries over a period of 500 y. Our reanalysis of data on cultural rules for displaying emotion from 32 countries [n = 5,340; Matsumoto D, Yoo S, Fontaine J (2008) J Cross Cult Psychol 39(1):55-74] reveals that historical heterogeneity explains substantial, unique variance in the degree to which individuals believe that emotions should be openly expressed. We also report an original study of the underlying states that people believe are signified by a smile. Cluster analysis applied to data from nine countries (n = 726), including Canada, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Israel, Japan, New Zealand, and the United States, reveals that countries group into "cultures of smiling" determined by historical heterogeneity. Factor analysis shows that smiles sort into three social-functional subtypes: pleasure, affiliative, and dominance. The relative importance of these smile subtypes varies as a function of historical heterogeneity. These findings thus highlight the power of social-historical factors to explain cross-cultural variation in emotional expression and smile behavior.

Emotional reactions to crime across cultures.

Information about the emotions experienced by observers when they witness crimes would have important theoretical and practical implications, but to date no study has broadly assessed such emotional reactions. This study addressed this gap in the literature. Observers in seven countries viewed seven videos portraying actual crimes and rated their emotional reactions to each using 14 emotion scales. Observers reported significantly high levels of negative emotions including anger, contempt, disgust, fear and sadness-related emotions, and anger, contempt and disgust were the most salient emotions experienced by viewers across all countries. Witnesses also reported significantly high levels of positive emotions as well (compared to not feeling the emotion at all), which was unexpected. Country moderated the emotion ratings; post-hoc analyses indicated that masculine-oriented cultures reported less nervousness, surprise, excitement, fear and embarrassment than feminine cultures.

Judgments of subtle facial expressions of emotion.

Most studies on judgments of facial expressions of emotion have primarily utilized prototypical, high-intensity expressions. This paper examines judgments of subtle facial expressions of emotion, including not only low-intensity versions of full-face prototypes but also variants of those prototypes. A dynamic paradigm was used in which observers were shown a neutral expression followed by the target expression to judge, and then the neutral expression again, allowing for a simulation of the emergence of the expression from and then return to a baseline. We also examined how signal and intensity clarities of the expressions (explained more fully in the Introduction) were associated with judgment agreement levels. Low-intensity, full-face prototypical expressions of emotion were judged as the intended emotion at rates significantly greater than chance. A number of the proposed variants were also judged as the intended emotions. Both signal and intensity clarities were individually associated with agreement rates; when their interrelationships were taken into account, signal clarity independently predicted agreement rates but intensity clarity did not. The presence or absence of specific muscles appeared to be more important to agreement rates than their intensity levels, with the exception of the intensity of zygomatic major, which was positively correlated with agreement rates for judgments of joy.

Lectura de la expresión facial de las emociones: Investigación básica en la mejora del reconocimiento de emociones / Reading Facial Expressions of Emotions: Basic Research on Emotions Recognition Improvement

En este artículo se revisan dos importantes descubrimientos de la psicología de la emoción: la universalidad de las expresiones faciales de la emoción y la existencia de microexpresiones, así como la forma en que se han utilizado como base del desarrollo de programas de entrenamiento y mejora de la habilidad de reconocimiento. Se comentan los aspectos más importantes de su aplicación al mundo real en diversos ámbitos profesionales y personales. Por último se concluye que, aun existiendo una tasa baja de precisión en el reconocimiento de las microexpresiones por parte de la gran mayoría de la población, existen herramientas que desarrollan la capacidad de reconocimiento de la expresión emocional facial

In this article we review two important discoveries of psychology of emotion: the universality of facial expressions of emotion and the existence of microexpressions and how they have been used as a basis for the development of training and improving recognition ability programs. We discuss the most important aspects of their application to the real world in various professional and personal spheres. Finally we conclude that, despite the low rate of accuracy in recognizing microexpressions by the majority of the people, there are tools to develop the ability to recognize facial emotion expression

The Psychological Dimensions of Context / Las dimensiones psicológicas del contexto

Psychologists acknowledge the powerful influence of context on behavior, and have attempted to identify the dimensions underlying context. Previous work, however, has focused mainly on either relationships or specific situations. In this study we explore the psychological dimensions underlying a wide range of contexts varying in physical locations and the presence or absence of others. Four dimensions emerged, and they were used as a basis to differentiate contexts from each other. One - being in the public eye with the potential to be judged - was the most important dimension that differentiated among contexts. This finding is commensurate with recent empirical work demonstrating unique human abilities in cognition (Tomasello, 1999) and previous theoretical works concerning impression management and the presentation of self in social contexts (Goffman, 1959). We suggest that this dimension is the elemental meaning unit ascribed to contexts by human cultures.

Los psicólogos reconocen la poderosa influencia del contexto sobre la conducta y han intentado identificar las dimensiones subyacentes al contexto. Trabajos previos, sin embargo, se han enfocado principalmente en una de dos opciones: las relaciones o situaciones específicas. En este estudio se exploran las dimensiones psicológicas subyacentes a un amplio espectro de contextos que varían en locaciones físicas y presencia/ausencia de otros factores. Cuatro dimensiones fueron obtenidas, y fueron utilizadas como base para diferenciar contextos entre sí. Una "estar en el ojo público y con posibilidades de ser juzgado", fue la dimensión más importante que destacó entre los demás contextos. Este hallazgo es congruente con trabajos empíricos recientes que demuestran habilidades humanas únicas en procesos cognoscitivos (Tomasello, 1999) y con trabajos previos concernientes con manejo de impresiones y la auto-presentación en contextos sociales (Goffman, 1959). Se sugiere que esta dimensión es la unidad de significado elemental adscrita a cualquier contexto cultural humano.

The effect of response style on self-reported Conscientiousness across 20 countries.

Rankings of countries on mean levels of self-reported Conscientiousness continue to puzzle researchers. Based on the hypothesis that cross-cultural differences in the tendency to prefer extreme response categories of ordinal rating scales over moderate categories can influence the comparability of self-reports, this study investigated possible effects of response style on the mean levels of self-reported Conscientiousness in 22 samples from 20 countries. Extreme and neutral responding were estimated based on respondents' ratings of 30 hypothetical people described in short vignettes. In the vignette ratings, clear cross-sample differences in extreme and neutral responding emerged. These responding style differences were correlated with mean self-reported Conscientiousness scores. Correcting self-reports for extreme and neutral responding changed sample rankings of Conscientiousness, as well as the predictive validities of these rankings for external criteria. The findings suggest that the puzzling country rankings of self-reported Conscientiousness may to some extent result from differences in response styles.

Facial Behaviors and Emotional Reactions in Consumer Research / Conductas faciales y reacciones emocionales en investigación de consumidores

Gauging emotional reactions is a cornerstone of consumer research. The most common way emotions are assessed is self-report. But self-report is notoriously unreliable, and affected by many factors that confound their interpretation. Facial expressions are objective markers of emotional states, and are well grounded in decades of research. Yet, the research documenting the potential utility of facial expressions of emotion as a biometric marker in consumer research is limited. This study addresses this gap, presenting descriptive analyses of the facial expressions of emotion produced in typical consumer research. Surprisingly, the most prevalent expressions produced were disgust and social smiles; smile of true enjoyment were relatively rare. Additionally, expressions were generally of low intensity and very short durations. These findings demonstrate the potential utility for using facial expressions of emotion as markers in consumer research, and suggest that the emotional landscapes of consumers may be different than what is commonly thought.

La medición de reacciones emocionales es piedra angular en investigación sobre consumidores. La manera más común en que las emociones son evaluadas es mediante auto-reportes. Sin embargo, los auto-reportes son notablemente poco confiables y son afectados por diversos factores que impiden su correcta interpretación. Las expresiones faciales son marcadores objetivos de estados emocionales, y están bien fundamentados y respaldados por décadas de investigación. Aún así, la investigación que documenta la utilidad potencial de las expresiones faciales como marcadores biométricos en investigación sobre consumo es limitada. Este estudio trata ese hueco, presentando análisis descriptivos de las expresiones faciales de emociones producidas en investigaciones típicas de consumo. Sorprendentemente, las expresiones más prevalentes producidas fueron de disgusto y sonrisas sociales; mientras que sonrisas de verdadera felicidad fueron relativamente raras. Adicionalmente, las expresiones fueron generalmente de baja intensidad y de corta duración. Estos hallazgos demuestran la utilidad potencial de expresiones faciales de emociones como marcadores en investigación de consumo, y sugieren que los panoramas emocionales de los consumidores pueden ser diferentes de lo que comúnmente se piensa.

Judgments of facial expressions of emotion in profile.

Despite the fact that facial expressions of emotion have signal value, there is surprisingly little research examining how that signal can be detected under various conditions, because most judgment studies utilize full-face, frontal views. We remedy this by obtaining judgments of frontal and profile views of the same expressions displayed by the same expressors. We predicted that recognition accuracy when viewing faces in profile would be lower than when judging the same faces from the front. Contrarily, there were no differences in recognition accuracy as a function of view, suggesting that emotions are judged equally well regardless of from what angle they are viewed.

Living with Moebius syndrome: adjustment, social competence, and satisfaction with life.

CONTEXT: Moebius syndrome is a rare congenital condition that results in bilateral facial paralysis. Several studies have reported social interaction and adjustment problems in people with Moebius syndrome and other facial movement disorders, presumably resulting from lack of facial expression. OBJECTIVE: To determine whether adults with Moebius syndrome experience increased anxiety and depression and/or decreased social competence and satisfaction with life compared with people without facial movement disorders. DESIGN: Internet-based quasi-experimental study with comparison group. PARTICIPANTS: Thirty-seven adults with Moebius syndrome recruited through the United States-based Moebius Syndrome Foundation newsletter and Web site and 37 age- and gender-matched control participants recruited through a university participant database. MEASURES: Anxiety and depression, social competence, satisfaction with life, ability to express emotion facially, and questions about Moebius syndrome symptoms. RESULTS: People with Moebius syndrome reported significantly lower social competence than the matched control group and normative data but did not differ significantly from the control group or norms in anxiety, depression, or satisfaction with life. In people with Moebius syndrome, degree of facial expression impairment was not significantly related to the adjustment variables. CONCLUSIONS: Many people with Moebius syndrome are better adjusted than previous research suggests, despite their difficulties with social interaction. To enhance interaction, people with Moebius syndrome could compensate for the lack of facial expression with alternative expressive channels.

Facial mimicry is not necessary to recognize emotion: Facial expression recognition by people with Moebius syndrome.

According to the reverse simulation model of embodied simulation theory, we recognize others' emotions by subtly mimicking their expressions, which allows us to feel the corresponding emotion through facial feedback. Previous studies examining whether facial mimicry is necessary for facial expression recognition were limited by potentially distracting manipulations intended to artificially restrict facial mimicry or very small samples of people with facial paralysis. We addressed these limitations by collecting the largest sample to date of people with Moebius syndrome, a condition characterized by congenital bilateral facial paralysis. In this Internet-based study, 37 adults with Moebius syndrome and 37 matched control participants completed a facial expression recognition task. People with Moebius syndrome did not differ from the control group or normative data in emotion recognition accuracy, and accuracy was not related to extent of ability to produce facial expressions. Our results do not support the hypothesis that reverse simulation with facial mimicry is necessary for facial expression recognition.

Interdependent self-construal and neural representations of self and mother.

Representations of self are thought to be dynamically influenced by one's surroundings, including the culture one lives in. However, neuroimaging studies of self-representations have either ignored cultural influences or operationalized culture as country of origin. The present study used functional magnetic resonance imaging to examine the neural correlates of individual differences in interdependent self-construal. Participants rated whether trait adjectives applied to themselves or their mothers, or judged their valence or font. Findings indicated that individual differences in interdependent self-construal correlated positively with increased activation in the medial prefrontal cortex and posterior cingulated cortex when making judgments about one-self vs making judgments about one's mother. This suggests that those with greater interdependent self-construals may rely more upon episodic memory, reflected appraisals, or theory of mind to incorporate social information to make judgments about themselves.

Sequential dynamics of culturally moderated facial expressions of emotion.

There is consensus that when emotions are aroused, the displays of those emotions are either universal or culture-specific. We investigated the idea that an individual's emotional displays in a given context can be both universal and culturally variable, as they change over time. We examined the emotional displays of Olympic athletes across time, classified their expressive styles, and tested the association between those styles and a number of characteristics associated with the countries the athletes represented. Athletes from relatively urban, individualistic cultures expressed their emotions more, whereas athletes from less urban, collectivistic cultures masked their emotions more. These culturally influenced expressions occurred within a few seconds after initial, immediate, and universal emotional displays. Thus, universal and culture-specific emotional displays can unfold across time in an individual in a single context.

Spontaneous facial expressions of emotion of congenitally and noncongenitally blind individuals.

The study of the spontaneous expressions of blind individuals offers a unique opportunity to understand basic processes concerning the emergence and source of facial expressions of emotion. In this study, the authors compared the expressions of congenitally and noncongenitally blind athletes in the 2004 Paralympic Games with each other and with those produced by sighted athletes in the 2004 Olympic Games. The authors also examined how expressions change from 1 context to another. There were no differences between congenitally blind, noncongenitally blind, and sighted athletes, either on the level of individual facial actions or in facial emotion configurations. Blind athletes did produce more overall facial activity, but these were isolated to head and eye movements. The blind athletes' expressions differentiated whether they had won or lost a medal match at 3 different points in time, and there were no cultural differences in expression. These findings provide compelling evidence that the production of spontaneous facial expressions of emotion is not dependent on observational learning but simultaneously demonstrates a learned component to the social management of expressions, even among blind individuals.

The role of dispositional traits in accounting for country and ethnic group differences on adjustment.

Country and ethnic group differences on adjustment have been demonstrated numerous times, and the source of these differences has been typically interpreted as cultural. We report two studies in which country (Study 1) and ethnic group (Study 2) differences on depression, anxiety, optimism versus pessimism, well-being, and self-esteem are mediated by dispositional traits. These findings provide an alternative explanation for previously reported country and ethnic group differences on these variables and encourage researchers to consider multiple sources, including traits, in their models and studies.

Perceived cultural attitudes toward homosexuality and their effects on Iranian and American sexual minorities.

This study examined the relationship between three mental health constructs and perceived cultural attitudes toward homosexuality among lesbian, gay, and bisexual individuals. Specifically, differences in perceived cultural attitudes and depression, self-esteem, and perceived stress between 49 Iranians and 47 Americans were compared. It was hypothesized that (a) perceived cultural attitudes toward homosexuality would be more negative among Iranians than Americans; (b) perceived cultural attitudes would be related to depression, self-esteem, and perceived stress; and (c) that Iranian participants' scores on the depression, self-esteem, and perceived stress measures would reflect poorer mental health than that of their American counterparts. Results indicated more negative perceptions of cultural attitudes toward homosexuality among Iranians. Contrary to prediction, however, no difference was found in levels of depression, self-esteem, and perceived stress among American and Iranian participants. Findings are discussed in terms of cultural and familial differences with regard to sexual orientation disclosure.