The Effect Of Facial Feedback On Facial Expression Recognition And Its Influence Factor

Facial feedback hypothesis suggests that facial expression impacts subjective experience of emotion. When facial expression is consistent with emotion, it will increase corresponding emotional experience. When facial expression is inconsistent with emotion, it will attenuate corresponding emotional experience. Studies have shown that facial feedback has a modulating and an initiating ability on emotional experience. In addition, according to the findings of cognitive neuroscience studies, observation of expressive faces automatically activates the same neural substrates implicated in the experience of the same emotion. Therefore, it needs further studies on whether facial feedback plays the same modulating and initiating effect on facial expression recognition, and which factors impact the development of this effect.This paper will adopt facial manipulation technique (Strack et al.1988; Niedenthal, et al,2007) in three experiments to explore modulating and initiating effect of facial feedback on different emotional expression and neutral expression, and influences of cultural variables and arousal rates of expression on this effect. The designs of the three experiments are within subject design.In experiment 1 we adopts facial manipulation technique to form different facial muscle activities to increase, inhibit and spontaneous produce imitation on happy and sad emotional expression, applies a within-subjects design and makes subjects to finish identification on happy, sad and neutral expression.In experiment 2 we adds cultural group with the purpose of inspecting whether cultural factor impact modulating and initiating effect on facial feedback and facial expression recognition. The further study investigates influences of arousal factors of expression on facial feedback effect in experiment 3.According to studies of Adolp & Alpers (2010), use female expression in KDEF set and male expression in NimStim set as high arousal stimuli, and utilize male expression in KDEF set and female expression in NimStim set as low arousal stimuli to investigate influences of arousal factors of expression on modulating and initiating effect of facial expression recognition under facial feedback.We drew several conclusions as follows from the current study:(1) Facial feedback modulates accuracy of facial expression recognition for negative emotion. When facial activities are consistent with sad expression, facial feedback promotes recognition accuracy of sad expression. When facial activities are inconsistent with sad expression, it inhibits simulation, resulting in facial feedback reduces recognition accuracy of sad expression.(2) Modulating and initiating effect of facial feedback on facial expressions recognition has been verified by participants in China.(3) The factor of cultural group did not differ in modulating and initiating effect of facial feedback on facial expression recognition. There is no significant difference of recognition accuracy with comparison of American and Chinese participants.(4) The arousal level impacts initiating effect of facial feedback on facial expression recognition. Under the expression with low arousal level, facial feedback produces initiating effect on facial expression recognition. However, under the expression with high arousal level, there is no difference.The current study has several implications. In terms of theory implications, the study expanded the research area of the facial feedback hypothesis, investigated other influencing factors that impact modulating and initiating effect of facial feedback on facial expression recognition, conducted cross-cultural comparative study, also provided experimental basis for facial feedback hypothesis based on simulative theories. In terms of practical implications, the study shed light on the cosmetic treatment and the educational fields, etc.