Publication in Frontiers in Psychology: Insights from a Large-Scale Study on the Meanings of Facial Expressions Across Cultures

A study published in Frontiers in Psychology explores the relationship between emotional experiences and facial expressions across different cultures. By examining reactions to evocative videos from participants in North America, Europe, and Japan, researchers found at least 21 distinct dimensions of subjective emotion experience that were consistent across English and Japanese responses. Facial expressions were found to predict certain dimensions of emotional experience with significant accuracy, suggesting that there are consistent patterns in how emotions are expressed through facial movements largely preserved across different cultural contexts. The study also revealed cross-cultural similarities in how emotions are experienced but noted differences in the intensity of specific facial expressions between cultures.