Value computations underpin flexible emotion expression.

ABSTRACT: Emotion expressions constitute a vital channel for communication, coordination and connection with others, but despite such valuable functions, people sometimes engage in expressive suppression or substitution (expressing emotions they do not genuinely feel). Yet, how exactly do people decide when and what to express? To answer this question, we developed a computational model that casts emotion expressions as value-based communicative decisions. Our model reveals that while people (N = 254) indeed tended to suppress expressions of anger towards others in anticipation of potential social costs as past work theorizes, they also engaged in other nuanced forms of expressive regulation, especially when their reputation was at stake. Most strikingly, people selectively exaggerated/suppressed ex

SUBMITTER: Teoh YY 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12643929 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature