The functional consequences of facial mimicry: Effects of action on image perception

Abstract

The present study asks whether social exclusion causes negative emotion, lower self-esteem, and loneliness. Unconsciously mimicking other people's facial expressions after social exclusion reduces these negative effects. The current study explored whether interfering with unconscious mimicry of faces following social exclusion would reduce the protective effects of mimicking others. Participants played a computerized game in which they were either excluded by other participants or not, and then they viewed a series of smiling faces. Half of the participants viewed the faces with a pen in their teeth (no mimicry interference) or in their lips (mimicry interference). Then they completed questionnaires measuring empathy, mood, self-esteem, and loneliness. This experiment revealed that people excluded reported having more positive emotions compared to those included. There were no other effects of social exclusion or mimicry interference, nor were there any interactions. More work is needed to better understand the role of unconscious mimicry in social exclusion.