Communicative Social Intentions Modulate Emotional Mimicry Responses.

ABSTRACT: Facial emotional expressions are interactive signals that communicate intentions. Previous research has shown that sending a facial emotional expression influences the evaluation of response expressions, but the mechanisms behind this effect remain unclear. In a preregistered experiment, 68 participants were asked to send an emoji (happy, neutral, and angry) to a virtual agent in front of them, whereupon the agent reacted with either a smiling or frowning facial expression. Valence and arousal ratings were obtained and mimicry responses to the agent's expression were measured via facial EMG of the Zygomaticus and Corrugator muscles. The results show that being smiled at is more pleasant and elicits greater Zygomaticus activation when the smile is received as a response to a happy emoji com

SUBMITTER: Kroczek LOH 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12421215 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature