Facial Expressions of Emotion: Markers of the Inner World and Mediators of the Social World

Writers, artists, lay observers, and many behavioral scientists, such as William James, have long believed that emotional expression reveals something fundamental about the life an individual leads. For several reasons, however, the scientific study of facial expression and personal adjustment has emerged only in the past 15 years. One reason is that reliable methods for measuring facial expression were developed only quite recently. Also, it is somewhat counterintuitive, if not methodologically ill conceived (and counter to principles of statistical aggregation), to expect brief observations of facial behavior to predict cumulative life outcomes. Moreover, some social scientists argued that facial expressions provide little coherent information about an individual’s emotions, intentions, and dispositions. The study of facial expression and personal adjustment, however, informs several lines of inquiry. It is widely assumed that emotions are associated with adaptive responses to significant events, suggesting that correlations between facial expression and adjustment are likely. Studies linking individual variation in facial expression to specific outcomes, therefore, lend credence to claims about the functions of particular emotions. Accounts of personal adjustment often specify how different patterns of emotional expression lead to positive or negative outcomes, pointing to the need for relevant research. Finally, studies of facial expression and psychopathology point to possible causes, consequences, and interventions related to emotional disturbances.