Walk to me when I smile, step back when I'm angry: emotional faces modulate whole-body approach-avoidance behaviors

John F Stins, Karin Roelofs, Jody Villan, Karen Kooijman, Muriel A Hagenaars, Peter J Beek

Research output: Contribution to journalArticleAcademicpeer-review

Abstract

Facial expressions are potent social cues that can induce behavioral dispositions, such as approach-avoidance tendencies. We studied these tendencies by asking participants to make whole-body forward (approach) or backward (avoidance) steps on a force plate in response to the valence of social cues (happy or angry faces) under affect-congruent and incongruent mappings. Posturographic parameters of the steps related to automatic stimulus evaluation, step initiation (reaction time), and step execution were determined and analyzed as a function of stimulus valence and stimulus-response mapping. The main result was that participants needed more time to initiate a forward step towards an angry face than towards a smiling face (which is evidence of a congruency effect), but with backward steps, this difference failed to reach significance. We also found a reduction in spontaneous body sway prior to the step with the incongruent mapping. The results provide a crucial empirical link between theories of socially induced action tendencies and theories of postural control and suggest a motoric basis for socially guided motivated behavior.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)603-11
Number of pages9
JournalExperimental Brain Research
Volume212
Issue number4
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Aug 2011
Externally publishedYes

Keywords

  • Adolescent
  • Adult
  • Emotions
  • Facial Expression
  • Female
  • Humans
  • Psychomotor Performance
  • Reaction Time
  • Social Behavior
  • Social Perception
  • Walking

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