Authors:
Marc Mehu British Academy Centenary Research Project, School of Biological Sciences, University of Liverpool, UK

Search for other papers by Marc Mehu in
Current site
Google Scholar
PubMed
Close
,
Anthony C. Little British Academy Centenary Research Project, School of Biological Sciences, University of Liverpool, UK
Department of Psychology, University of Stirling, UK

Search for other papers by Anthony C. Little in
Current site
Google Scholar
PubMed
Close
, and
Robin I. M. Dunbar British Academy Centenary Research Project, School of Biological Sciences, University of Liverpool, UK

Search for other papers by Robin I. M. Dunbar in
Current site
Google Scholar
PubMed
Close
Restricted access

Abstract

Although Duchenne smiles have been shown to have a social signal value, there is limited evidence as to whether this effect generalises to most positive attributes, or whether it is restricted to a particular social domain. As opposed to non-Duchenne smiles, Duchenne smiles involve the activity of facial muscles in the eye region (orbicularis oculi). The hypothesis that Duchenne and non-Duchenne smiles produce different responses in receivers was tested in a face perception experiment. People were asked to rate neutral and smiling faces on ten attributes: attractiveness, generosity, trustworthiness, competitiveness, health, agreeableness, conscientiousness, extroversion, neuroticism, and openness to experience. Results showed that the type of smile had a stronger impact on the ratings of generosity and extroversion. The difference between neutral and smiling was larger when faces showed a Duchenne than a non-Duchenne smile, though the effect of smile type on attributions of generosity appeared to be restricted to male faces. Therefore the Duchenne marker shows some specificity to judgements of altruism and sociability.

  • P. Borkenau A. Liebler 1995 Observable attributes as manifestations and cues of personality and intelligence Journal of Personality 63 1 25.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation
  • W. M. Brown C. Moore 2000 Is prospective altruist-detection an evolved solution to the adaptive problem of subtle cheating in cooperative ventures? Supportive evidence using the Wason selection task Evolution and Human Behaviour 21 25 37.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation
  • W. M. Brown C. Moore 2002 Smile asymmetries and reputation as reliable indicators of likelihood to cooperate: an evolutionary analysis S. P. Shohov Advances in Psychology Research, 11 Nova Science Publishers Huntington, New York 59 78.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation
  • W. M. Brown B. Palameta C. Moore 2003 Are there non-verbal cues to commitment? An exploratory study using the zero-acquaintance video presentation paradigm Evolutionary Psychology 1 42 69.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation
  • D. M. Buss 1991 Evolutionary personality psychology Annual Review of Psychology 42 459 491.

  • J. Cohen 1988 Statistical Power Analysis for the Behavioural Sciences 2nd ed. Erlbaum Hillsdale, NJ.

  • B. Cooper C. Wallace 1998 Evolution, partnerships and cooperation Journal of Theoretical Biology 195 315 329.

  • G. J. Devilly 2004 The Effect Size Generator for Windows: version 2.3 (computer programme) Centre for Neuropsychology, Swinburne University Australia.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation
  • G. B. Duchenne de Boulogne 1862 The Mechanism of Human Facial Expression Cambridge University Press New York.

  • R. I. M. Dunbar 1999 Culture, honesty and the free-rider problem R. I. M. Dunbar C. Knight C. Power The Evolution of Culture Edinburgh University Press Edinburgh 194 213.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation
  • P. Ekman 1997 Should we call it expression or communication? Innovations in Social Science Research 10 4 333 344.

  • P. Ekman W. V. Friesen 1982 Felt, false and miserable smiles Journal of Nonverbal Behavior 6 4 238 252.

  • P. Ekman W. V. Friesen M. O'sullivan 1988 Smiles when lying Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 54 3 414 420.

  • P. Ekman R. J. Davidson W. V. Friesen 1990 The Duchenne smile: emotional expression and brain physiology: II Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 58 2 342 353.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation
  • P. Ekman W. V. Friesen J. C. Hager 2002 Facial Action Coding System Research Nexus eBook Salt Lake City, UT.

  • M. G. Frank P. Ekman W. V. Friesen 1993 Behavioural markers and recognisability of the smile of enjoyment Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 64 1 83 93.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation
  • R. H. Frank 1988 Passions within Reason: The Strategic Role of the Emotions Norton New York.

  • A. Grafen 1990 Biological signals as handicaps Journal of Theoretical Biology 144 517 546.

  • K. Grammer 1989 Human courtship behaviour: biological basis and cognitive processing A. E. Rasa C. Vogel E. Voland The Sociobiology of Sexual and Reproductive Strategies Chapman and Hall London 147 169.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation
  • M. Gurven W. Allen-arave K. Hill M. Hurtado 2000 “It's a wonderful life”: signalling generosity among the Ache of Paraguay Evolution and Human Behaviour 21 263 282.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation
  • J. Hirshleifer 1987 On the emotions as guarantors of threats and promises J. Dupré The Latest on the Best: Essays on Evolution and Optimality MIT Press Cambridge, MA 307 326.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation
  • B. C. Jones A. C. Little D. M. Burt D. I. Perrett 2004 When facial attractiveness is only skin deep Perception 33 569 576.

  • B. C. Jones L. M. Debruine A. C. Little C. A. Conway D. R. Feinberg 2006 Integrating gaze direction and expression in preferences for attractive faces Psychological Science 17 7 588 591.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation
  • Kanade, T., Cohn, J. F. and Tian, Y. (2000): Comprehensive database for facial expression analysis. in: Proceedings of the Fourth IEEE International Conference on Automatic Face Gesture Recognition (FG'00). Grenoble, France, March 2000, pp.4653.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation
  • M. Lafrance M. A. Hecht 1995 Why smiles generate leniency Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin 21 3 207 214.

  • S. Lau 1982 The effect of smiling on person perception Journal of Social Psychology 117 63 67.

  • A. C. Little D. M. Burt I. S. Penton-Voak D. I. Perrett 2001 Self-perceived attractiveness influences human female preferences for sexual dimorphism and symmetry in male faces Proceedings of the Royal Society of London, B 268 39 44.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation
  • Mehu, M. (2006): An Evolutionary Approach to Human Social Behaviour: The Case of Smiling and Laughing. PhD Thesis, University of Liverpool.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation
  • Mehu, M., Grammer, K. and Dunbar, R. I. M. (in press): Smiles when sharing. Evolution and Human Behavior.

  • M. M. Moore 1985 Nonverbal courtship patterns in women: context and consequences Ethology and Sociobiology 6 237 245.

  • O'sullivan, M., Ekman, P., Friesen, W. V. and Scherer, K. (1992): Judging Honest and Deceptive Behavior. Unpublished manuscript.

  • E. Otta B. B. P. Lira N. M. Delevati O. P. Cesar C. S. G. Pires 1994 The effect of smiling and of head tilting on person perception The Journal of Social Psychology 128 323 31.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation
  • E. Otta F. F. E. Abrosio R. L. Hoshino 1996 Reading a smiling face: messages conveyed by various forms of smiling Perceptual and Motor Skills 82 1111 1121.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation
  • L. A. Parr B. M. Waller J. Fugate 2005 Emotional communication in primates: implications for neurobiology Current Opinion in Neurobiology 15 716 720.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation
  • G. Roberts 1998 Competitive altruism: from reciprocity to the handicap principle Proceedings of the Royal Society of London (series B) 265 427 431.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation
  • W. Ruch 1993 Extroversion, alcohol and enjoyment Personality and Individual Differences 16 89 102.

  • J. P. W. Scharlemann C. C. Eckel A. Kacelnik R. K. Wilson 2001 The value of a smile: Game theory with a human face Journal of Economic Psychology 22 617 640.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation
  • K. L. Schmidt J. F. Cohn 2001 Human facial expressions as adaptations: Evolutionary questions in facial expression research Yearbook of Physical Anthropology 44 3 24.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation
  • C. C. Sherwood R. L. Holloway J. M. Erwin P. R. Hof 2004 Cortical orofacial motor representation in Old World monkeys, great apes, and humans Brain Behavioural Ecology 63 82 106.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation
  • C. C. Sherwood P. R. Hof R. L. Holloway K. Semendeferi P. J. Gannon H. D. Frahm K. Zilles 2005 Evolution of the brainstem orofacial motor system in primates: A comparative study trigeminal, facial and hypoglossal nuclei Journal of Human Evolution 48 45 84.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation
  • V. Surakka J. K. Hietanen 1997 Contagion of emotion from the expression of genuine and false smile International Journal of Psychophysiology 25 1 78 79.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation
  • R. L. Trivers 1971 The evolution of reciprocal altruism The Quarterly Review of Biology 46 35 57.

  • A. Zahavi 1987 The theory of signal selection and some of its implications V. P. Delfino International Symposium of Biological Evolution Adriatica Editrice Bari 305 327.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation
  • A. Zahavi A. Zahavi 1997 The Handicap Principle: A Missing Part of Darwin's Puzzle Oxford University Press Oxford.

  • Collapse
  • Expand

Journal of Evolutionary Psychology 
Language English
Size  
Year of
Foundation
2007 (2003)
Publication
Programme
changed title
Volumes
per Year
 
Issues
per Year
 
Founder Akadémiai Kiadó
Founder's
Address
H-1117 Budapest, Hungary 1516 Budapest, PO Box 245.
Publisher Akadémiai Kiadó
Publisher's
Address
H-1117 Budapest, Hungary 1516 Budapest, PO Box 245.
Responsible
Publisher
Chief Executive Officer, Akadémiai Kiadó
ISSN 1789-2082 (Print)
ISSN 2060-5587 (Online)

Monthly Content Usage

Abstract Views Full Text Views PDF Downloads
May 2024 35 0 0
Jun 2024 69 0 0
Jul 2024 100 0 0
Aug 2024 47 0 0
Sep 2024 117 1 1
Oct 2024 89 0 1
Nov 2024 8 0 0