Research summary

My  research focuses on expressions of emotions, their effects and the mechanisms  underlying their perception and interpretation. In my current project, I  examine whether and how emotions of other people influence the way we cooperate  in intergroup social dilemmas. For example, seeing someone who is selfish and  happy about it can make us less altruistic than seeing this person express  regret about being selfish. Importantly, the impact of emotions may vary as a  function of the group status of this other person.

I am also  interested in facial expressions of emotion, especially the smile, which is  arguably the most complex and versatile among them. Some of my studies explore  the role of eye contact and facial mimicry in the perception and interpretation  of other people’s smiles. I manipulate these behaviors in the laboratory while  also examining them in more ecological contexts: across cultures, in babies  using pacifiers over long periods of time, and in facial palsy patients.