Task-irrelevant emotional expressions are not mimicked, but may modulate the mimicry of task-relevant emotional expressions.

ABSTRACT: Emotional mimicry-the imitation of others' emotions-is an empathic response that helps to navigate social interactions. Mimicry is absent when participants' task does not involve engaging with the expressers' emotions. This may be because task-irrelevant faces (i.e., faces that participants were instructed to ignore) are not processed. To assess whether processed task-irrelevant faces are also not mimicked, we conducted three studies [Study 1: N = 74 participants (27 men; M_age  = 26.9 years); Study 2: N = 53 participants (20 men; M_age  = 25.8 years); Study 3: N = 51 participants (7 men; M_age  = 26.8 years)] using an affective priming paradigm in which one face was task-relevant and one was to be ignored, as a framew

SUBMITTER: Mauersberger H 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11748183 | biostudies-literature | 2024

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature