Behavioural responses to facial and postural expressions of emotion: An interpersonal circumplex approach.
While the recognition of emotional expressions has been extensively studied, the behavioural response to these expressions has not. In the interpersonal circumplex, behaviour is defined in terms of communion and agency. In this study, we examined behavioural responses to both facial and postural expressions of emotion. We presented 101 Romanian students with facial and postural stimuli involving individuals ('targets') expressing happiness, sadness, anger, or fear. Using an interpersonal grid, participants simultaneously indicated how communal (i.e., quarrelsome or agreeable) and agentic (i.e., dominant or submissive) they would be towards people displaying these expressions. Participants were agreeable-dominant towards targets showing happy facial expressions and primarily quarrelsome towards targets with angry or fearful facial expressions. Responses to targets showing sad facial expressions were neutral on both dimensions of interpersonal behaviour. Postural versus facial expressions of happiness and anger elicited similar behavioural responses. Participants responded in a quarrelsome-submissive way to fearful postural expressions and in an agreeable way to sad postural expressions. Behavioural responses to the various facial expressions were largely comparable to those previously observed in Dutch students. Observed differences may be explained from participants' cultural background. Responses to the postural expressions largely matched responses to the facial expressions.
Department of Psychology and School of Behavioral and Cognitive Neurosciences, University of Groningen, The Netherlands.
Marije
M
Aan Het Rot
Department of Psychology, Alexandru Ioan Cuza University, Iaşi, Romania.
Violeta
V
Enea
Department of Psychology, Alexandru Ioan Cuza University, Iaşi, Romania.
Ion
I
Dafinoiu
Department of Psychology, Alexandru Ioan Cuza University, Iaşi, Romania.
Sorina
S
Iancu
Department of Psychology, Alexandru Ioan Cuza University, Iaşi, Romania.
Steluţa A
SA
Taftă
Department of Psychology, Alexandru Ioan Cuza University, Iaşi, Romania.
Mariana
M
Bărbuşelu
D000328:Adult; D000786:Anger; D003466:Cultural Characteristics; D004644:Emotions; D005145:Face; D005149:Facial Expression; D005239:Fear; D005260:Female; D006240:Happiness; D006801:Humans; D007398:Interpersonal Relations; D008297:Male; D010775:Photic Stimulation; D011187:Posture; D012383:Romania; D055815:Young Adult
agency; communion; emotion; facial expressions; interpersonal; posture