Peripheral feedback effects of facial expressions, bodily postures, and vocal expressions on emotional feelings

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to examine the feedback effects of three modalities of emotional expression on emotional experience. Facial expressions, bodily postures, and vocal expressions of anger, sadness, fear, and happiness were manipulated under disguised conditions in a sample of 52 undergraduate students. After each manipulation, participants rated their feelings of anger, sadness, fear, happiness, disgust, and surprise on 11-point scales. Results indicated that: (1) facial expressions and bodily postures tended to produce specific, categorical effects on emotional feelings (the effects of vocal expressions were inconsistent); (2) the magnitudes of effects produced by facial expressions tended to be stronger than those of bodily postures, which tended to exceed those of vocal expressions; and (3) responsiveness to self-produced cues of emotion was consistent across the three modalities of expression.