Kroczek Leon O H, Frank Silke, Gold Uta, Hesse Fridolin, Hettenkofer Selina, Peterreins Nadja, Teutsch Lorenz, Theophile Valerie, Mühlberger Andreas
Department of Psychology, Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy, University of Regensburg, Regensburg, Germany.
Psychophysiology. 2025 Sep;62(9):e70137. doi: 10.1111/psyp.70137.
Facial emotional expressions are interactive signals that communicate intentions. Previous research has shown that sending a facial emotional expression influences the evaluation of response expressions, but the mechanisms behind this effect remain unclear. In a preregistered experiment, 68 participants were asked to send an emoji (happy, neutral, and angry) to a virtual agent in front of them, whereupon the agent reacted with either a smiling or frowning facial expression. Valence and arousal ratings were obtained and mimicry responses to the agent's expression were measured via facial EMG of the Zygomaticus and Corrugator muscles. The results show that being smiled at is more pleasant and elicits greater Zygomaticus activation when the smile is received as a response to a happy emoji compared to an angry emoji. In contrast, being frowned at is less pleasant and increases Corrugator activity when the angry expression is received as a response to a happy emoji compared to an angry emoji. Finally, we found that sending an emoji resulted in activation of facial muscles corresponding to the valence of the emoji. The results support the role of affiliative mechanisms in the exchange of facial expressions but also demonstrate that persons are sensitive to the congruency between emotional signals of sender and receiver. These effects might be driven by physiological feedback. By implementing digital emotional expressions, the present study dissects the communicative act from the motor display of a facial expression and thus allows us to probe mechanisms behind social interactions in real and digital worlds.
面部情绪表达是传达意图的交互信号。先前的研究表明，发送面部情绪表达会影响对回应表情的评价，但其背后的机制仍不清楚。在一项预先注册的实验中，68名参与者被要求向他们面前的虚拟代理发送一个表情符号（开心、中性和愤怒），随后代理以微笑或皱眉的面部表情做出反应。获得效价和唤醒评分，并通过颧肌和皱眉肌的面部肌电图测量对代理表情的模仿反应。结果表明，与愤怒表情符号相比，当微笑作为对开心表情符号的回应被接收时，被微笑对待会更令人愉快，并引发更大的颧肌激活。相比之下，与愤怒表情符号相比，当愤怒表情作为对开心表情符号的回应被接收时，被皱眉对待会不那么令人愉快，并增加皱眉肌的活动。最后，我们发现发送表情符号会导致对应表情符号效价的面部肌肉激活。结果支持了亲和机制在面部表情交流中的作用，但也表明人们对发送者和接收者情绪信号之间的一致性很敏感。这些影响可能是由生理反馈驱动的。通过实现数字情绪表达，本研究从面部表情的运动展示中剖析了交际行为，从而使我们能够探究现实世界和数字世界中社会互动背后的机制。
