Large-scale observational evidence of cross-cultural differences in facial behavior

A selection of clinically relevant papers from other journals. The summaries on this page have been chosen and edited by Paul Hellyer. In this issue Paul chooses a selection of papers from the recent Springer Nature Change the World One Article at a Time initiative .

Abstract

Everyone frowns more in unfamiliar surroundings ⌣

Main

McDuff D, Girard J, el Kaliouby R. J Nonverbal Behav 2017; 41: 1–19

Culture influences our facial expressions but whether these expressions of emotion are culture specific – ie different cultures have differing 'display rules' – is not known. Display rules are thought to be present to promote group cohesion and prevent interpersonal conflict.

This study examined the facial expressions of 740,984 individuals in 12 countries, in two settings, a market research laboratory and at home, while watching video advertisements. Facial recognition algorithms enabled the recording and measurement of two actions: smiling and brow furrowing.

The study found that negative emotion (brow furrowing) was more common in the non-domestic setting of a research laboratory. The authors suggest that this may indicate that displaying a negative effect is a pan-cultural evolutionary adaptation to protect personal boundaries in an unfamiliar setting. Females expressed more positive emotion (smiling) and less negative emotion than males. It is suggested that men project more negative emotion in order to protect their status.