Fact or Artifact? Demand Characteristics and Participants' Beliefs Can Moderate, but Do Not Fully Account for, the Effects of Facial Feedback on Emotional Experience

The facial feedback hypothesis suggests that an individual's facial expressions can influence their emotional experience (e.g., that smiling can make one feel happier). However, a reoccurring concern is that supposed facial feedback effects are merely methodological artifacts. Six experiments conducted across 29 countries (N = 995) examined the extent to which the effects of posed facial expressions on emotion reports were moderated by (a) the hypothesis communicated to participants (i.e., demand characteristics) and (b) participants' beliefs about facial feedback effects. Results indicated that these methodological artifacts moderated, but did not fully account for, the effects of posed facial expressions on emotion reports. Even when participants were explicitly told or personally believed that facial poses do not influence emotions, they still exhibited facial feedback effects. These results indicate that facial feedback effects are not solely driven by demand or placebo effects.

Automated summary

The facial feedback hypothesis suggests that facial expressions can influence emotional experience, and the results of the experiments indicate that these effects are not solely driven by demand or placebo effects.