title: A selective emotional decision-making bias elicited by facial expressions.
abstract: Emotional and social information can sway otherwise rational decisions. For example, when participants decide between two faces that are probabilistically rewarded, they make biased choices that favor smiling relative to angry faces. This bias may arise because facial expressions evoke positive and negative emotional responses, which in turn may motivate social approach and avoidance. We tested a wide range of pictures that evoke emotions or convey social information, including animals, words, foods, a variety of scenes, and faces differing in trustworthiness or attractiveness, but we found only facial expressions biased decisions. Our results extend brain imaging and pharmacological findings, which suggest that a brain mechanism supporting social interaction may be involved. Facial expressions appear to exert special influence over this social interaction mechanism, one capable of biasing otherwise rational choices. These results illustrate that only specific types of emotional experiences can best sway our choices.
authors.affiliation: Unit on Learning and Decision Making, Laboratory of Neuropsychology, National Institute of Mental Health, Bethesda, Maryland, United States of America. nick.furl@mrc-cbu.cam.ac.uk
authors.forename: Nicholas
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Furl
authors.forename: Shannon
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Gallagher
authors.forename: Bruno B
authors.initials: BB
authors.lastname: Averbeck
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000818:Animals; D003657:Decision Making; D004644:Emotions; D005149:Facial Expression; D005260:Female; D005502:Food; D006801:Humans; D007398:Interpersonal Relations; D007858:Learning; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D008960:Models, Psychological; D012201:Reward; D035502:Trust; D055815:Young Adult