How We Recognize Angry and Happy Emotion in People, Places, and Things

Abstract

Darwin proposed and Ekman and Izard confirmed the presence of cross-cultural regularities in facial displays of emotion. Following their work, the author and his colleagues sought to find parallel mechanisms that would permit these displays to be decoded. A cross-cultural comparison of the display of anger and happiness in masks used in ritual social functions revealed that a set of geometric patterns, rather than actual facial features, conveyed these different emotional meanings. The power of nonrepresentational visual patterns to produce meaning was examined in a series of studies using materials that presented geometric shapes in a variety of line drawings, large-scale physical movement in classical ballet, and configurations among individuals in 17th-century Dutch art. Results across all studies suggested that for the emotions of anger and happiness, at least, meaning is carried in the geometric properties of the visual display.

Abstract Expressions of Affect

“…For an overview of the gestalt grouping and binding principles we refer to Wolfe et al (2005) and Snowden et al (2006). The importance of grouping and binding mechanisms in relation to affect is shown by the work of Aronoff (2006) who evidenced in a study on 17th century Dutch art that people attributed emotions based on the amount of angular versus rounded forms found in a work of art. The angular forms were associated with negative emotions and rounded forms with positive emotions.…”

“…It is believed that the quality of this approach relies in part on the formation of gestalts (see section on grouping and binding) (Whitelaw, 2007). Complementarily, Aronoff (2006) evidences that the intensity of affective quality is partly determined by the amount of affectively meaningful features present. This is well illustrated by the work 'Process 9' (2005) by Casey Reas.…”

“…Recent research on visual emotion recognition offers substantial evidence that the recognition of some emotions neither requires the resemblance to, nor the configuration of, the human body or face per se (Aronoff, 2006;de Gelder et al, 1999;Lundqvist & Öhman, 2004). Instead, the recognition of these emotion expressions can rely on the sole presence of basic motion and form features essential to the recognition of emotion, which are extracted at the highest levels of abstraction in perception (Aronoff, 2006;Lundqvist & Öhman, 2004;Pavlova et al, 2005).…”

“…Instead, the recognition of these emotion expressions can rely on the sole presence of basic motion and form features essential to the recognition of emotion, which are extracted at the highest levels of abstraction in perception (Aronoff, 2006;Lundqvist & Öhman, 2004;Pavlova et al, 2005). Additionally, a large body of experimental research exists on emotion attribution to simple abstract geometrical shapes, based on such essential affective features (Aronoff, 2006;Aronoff et al, 1992;Collier, 1996;Heider & Simmel, 1944;Larson et al, 2008;Locher & Nodine, 1989;Oatley & Yuill, 1985;Pavlova et al, 2005;Rimé et al, 1985;Scholl & Tremoulet, 2000;Visch & Goudbeek, 2009). These theoretical insights motivate us to investigate the possibilities of emotion expression independent of the configuration of the human body and face, based on the minimal essential components of visual emotion recognition.…”

Pleasure junkies all around! Why it matters and why ‘the arts’ might be the answer: a biopsychological perspective

“…Low-level stimuli features of works of art trigger our attention, including shapes and tones, and other features such as symmetry and beauty [108][109][110][111][112][113][114]. Besides, the arts push boundaries, surprise, reveal, and excite both artist and spectator.…”