title: Modulation of facial reactions to avatar emotional faces by nonconscious competition priming.
abstract: To investigate whether subliminally priming for competition influences facial reactions to facial emotional displays, 49 participants were either subliminally competition primed or neutrally primed. Thereafter, they viewed computer generated avatar faces with happy, neutral, and sad expressions while Corrugator supercilii and Zygomaticus major reactions were recorded. Results revealed facial mimicry to happy and sad faces in the neutrally primed group but not the competition primed group. Furthermore, subliminal competition priming enhanced Corrugator supercilii activity after an initial relaxation while viewing happy faces. An impression formation task revealed counter empathic effects confirming successful competition priming. Overall, results indicate that nonconscious processes influence a presumably nonconscious behavior.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of Würzburg, Würzburg, Germany. weyers@psychologie.uni-wuerzburg.de
authors.forename: Peter
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Weyers
authors.forename: Andreas
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Mühlberger
authors.forename: Anja
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Kund
authors.forename: Ursula
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Hess
authors.forename: Paul
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Pauli
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D003463:Cues; D004576:Electromyography; D004644:Emotions / Q000502:physiology*; D005149:Facial Expression; D005152:Facial Muscles / Q000502:physiology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007206:Individuality; D010775:Photic Stimulation; D055815:Young Adult