Abstract
The origins of the appearances of anger and fear facial expressions are not well understood. The authors tested the hypothesis that such origins might lie in the expressions ' resemblance to, respectively, mature and babyish faces in three studies. In Study 1, faces expressing anger and fear were judged to physically resemble mature and babyish faces. Study 2 indicated that characteristics associated specifically with babyishness are attributed to persons showing fear, whereas characteristics associated with maturity are attributed to persons showing anger. In Study 3, composite faces were used to minimize the possibility that the attributions were based on associations to the anger and fear emotions alone rather than to the physical resemblance of the expressions to static facial appearance cues. These results suggest that fear and anger expressions may serve socially adaptive purposes for those who show them, similar to the social adaptations associated with a babyish or mature facial appearance.
| Original language | English (US) |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 73-86 |
| Number of pages | 14 |
| Journal | Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin |
| Volume | 31 |
| Issue number | 1 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - Jan 1 2005 |
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All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes
- Social Psychology
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Why do fear and anger look the way they do? Form and social function in facial expressions. / Marsh, Abigail A.; Adams, Reginald B.; Kleck, Robert E.
In: Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, Vol. 31, No. 1, 01.01.2005, p. 73-86.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article
TY - JOUR
T1 - Why do fear and anger look the way they do? Form and social function in facial expressions
AU - Marsh, Abigail A.
AU - Adams, Reginald B.
AU - Kleck, Robert E.
PY - 2005/1/1
Y1 - 2005/1/1
N2 - The origins of the appearances of anger and fear facial expressions are not well understood. The authors tested the hypothesis that such origins might lie in the expressions ' resemblance to, respectively, mature and babyish faces in three studies. In Study 1, faces expressing anger and fear were judged to physically resemble mature and babyish faces. Study 2 indicated that characteristics associated specifically with babyishness are attributed to persons showing fear, whereas characteristics associated with maturity are attributed to persons showing anger. In Study 3, composite faces were used to minimize the possibility that the attributions were based on associations to the anger and fear emotions alone rather than to the physical resemblance of the expressions to static facial appearance cues. These results suggest that fear and anger expressions may serve socially adaptive purposes for those who show them, similar to the social adaptations associated with a babyish or mature facial appearance.
AB - The origins of the appearances of anger and fear facial expressions are not well understood. The authors tested the hypothesis that such origins might lie in the expressions ' resemblance to, respectively, mature and babyish faces in three studies. In Study 1, faces expressing anger and fear were judged to physically resemble mature and babyish faces. Study 2 indicated that characteristics associated specifically with babyishness are attributed to persons showing fear, whereas characteristics associated with maturity are attributed to persons showing anger. In Study 3, composite faces were used to minimize the possibility that the attributions were based on associations to the anger and fear emotions alone rather than to the physical resemblance of the expressions to static facial appearance cues. These results suggest that fear and anger expressions may serve socially adaptive purposes for those who show them, similar to the social adaptations associated with a babyish or mature facial appearance.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=11144292742&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=11144292742&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1177/0146167204271306
DO - 10.1177/0146167204271306
M3 - Article
C2 - 15574663
AN - SCOPUS:11144292742
VL - 31
SP - 73
EP - 86
JO - Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin
JF - Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin
SN - 0146-1672
IS - 1
ER -