2016/12/21 by Ursula Heß, Shlomo Hareli · 1 citation
Neuroscience · Psychology · #Face Recognition and Perception #Color perception and design #Emotions and Moral Behavior
paper · doi:10.1080/02699931.2016.1269725
openalex publication_date 2016/12/21 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/03/31
Research on the relationship between context and facial expressions generally assumes a unidirectional effect of context on expressions. However, according to the model of the meaning of emotion expressions in context (MEEC) the effect should be bidirectional. The present research tested the effect of emotion expression on the interpretation of scenes. A total of 380 participants either (a) rated facial expressions with regard to the likely appraisal of the eliciting situation by the emoter, (b) appraised the scenes alone or (c) appraised scenes shown together with the expressions they supposedly elicited. The findings strongly supported the MEEC. When a scene was combined with an expression signalling a situation that is undesirable, or high in locus of control or sudden, the participants appraised the scene correspondingly. Thus, the meaning of scenes is malleable and affected by the way that people are seen to react to them.