Is the startle reaction an emotion?

Ekman, Paul; Friesen, Wallace V.; Simons, Ronald C.

doi:10.1037/0022-3514.49.5.1416

Cited by 196 publications

(88 citation statements)

References 22 publications

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“…In the one prior test of ethnic differences in suppression (Hagemann et al, 2006), ethnicity failed to moderate suppression effects to an acoustic startle. Our findings extend these results using disgust films, a stimulus that is more clearly emotional than the acoustic startle, which is thought to exist on the boundary between emotion and reflex (Ekman, Friesen, & Simons, 1985). We also extended these findings to measures of blood pressure, which support the pattern of suppression-related increases in cardiovascular activation across members of different ethnic groups.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 76%

Cardiovascular costs of emotion suppression cross ethnic lines

Roberts

Levenson

Gross

2008

International Journal of Psychophysiology

134

125

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Previous research has shown that inhibiting emotion-expressive behavior (emotion suppression) leads to increased sympathetic activation of the cardiovascular system (Gross & Levenson, 1993). Ethnic differences have been reported in how frequently suppression is used as an emotion regulation strategy (Gross & John, 2003); however, it remains unknown whether there are ethnic differences in the physiological consequences of suppression. To test this, 168 participants from four ethnic groups (African American, Chinese American, European American, Mexican American) watched a disgusteliciting film clip; half were instructed to suppress their emotions and half simply watched the film. Consistent with previous research, suppression was associated with decreased facial behavior, increased cardiovascular activation, and no impact on subjective emotional experience. Ethnicity failed to moderate these effects, indicating the generality of the cardiovascular consequences of emotion suppression across ethnic background.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 76%

Cardiovascular costs of emotion suppression cross ethnic lines

Roberts

Levenson

Gross

2008

International Journal of Psychophysiology

134

125

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“…The fact that all stimuli evoked this early corrugator response, and that a similar initial response component was detected in earlier studies (e.g., Dimberg & Thunberg, 1998), indicates that this is a general response that does not differentiate between the emotional content of the stimuli, but rather reflects a nonspecific effect of visual stimulation. One plausible interpretation is that it reflects a startle reaction, which typically occurs within 200 ms (e.g., Ekman, Friesen, & Simons, 1985), and which also can be elicited by rather weak stimuli (Blumenthal & Goode, 1991).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Unconscious Facial Reactions to Emotional Facial Expressions

2000

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Studies reveal that when people are exposed to emotional facial expressions, they spontaneously react with distinct facial electromyographic (EMG) reactions in emotion-relevant facial muscles. These reactions reflect, in part, a tendency to mimic the facial stimuli. We investigated whether corresponding facial reactions can be elicited when people are unconsciously exposed to happy and angry facial expressions. Through use of the backward-masking technique, the subjects were prevented from consciously perceiving 30-ms exposures of happy, neutral, and angry target faces, which immediately were followed and masked by neutral faces. Despite the fact that exposure to happy and angry faces was unconscious, the subjects reacted with distinct facial muscle reactions that corresponded to the happy and angry stimulus faces. Our results show that both positive and negative emotional reactions can be unconsciously evoked, and particularly that important aspects of emotional face-to-face communication can occur on an unconscious level.

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“…There are a variety of reasons. Sometimes, authors reported finding significant results only in subsets of their data (e.g., Anolli & Ciceri, 1997;Burns & Kintz, 1976;Ekman, Friesen & Simons, 1985). Some authors reported significance for multivariate tests that analyzed cues together (e.g., Greene et al, 1985;Heilveil & Muehleman, 1981) or analyses that collapsed across other conditions (e.g., DePaulo, Rosenthal, Green, & Rosenkrantz, 1982).…”

Section: Trouble In the Land Of Toysmentioning

confidence: 99%

Lessons from Pinocchio: Cues to deception may be highly exaggerated

Luke¹

2018

Preprint

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Deception researchers widely acknowledge that cues to deception -observable behaviors that may differ between truthful and deceptive messagestend to be weak. Nevertheless, several deception cues have been reported with unusually large effect sizes, and some researchers have advocated the use of such cues as tools for detecting deceit and assessing credibility in practical contexts. Examining data from empirical deception cue research and using a series of Monte Carlo simulations, I demonstrate that many estimated effect sizes of deception cues may be greatly inflated by publication bias, small numbers of estimates, and low power. Indeed, simulations indicate the informational value of the present deception literature is quite low, such that it is not possible to determine whether any given effect is real or a false positive. I warn against the hazards of relying on potentially illusory cues to deception and offer some recommendations for improving the state of the science of deception. A preprint of this document is available at https://osf.io/xt8fq/."That Marionette," continued the Talking Cricket, "is a rascal of the worst kind." (Collodi, 1883) In an effort to temper our hopes of catching lies with unerring accuracy, deception researchers often say there is no "Pinocchio's nose" (e.g., Frank, Menasco, & O'Sullivan, 2008;Hartwig & Bond, 2011;Vrij, 2006Vrij, , 2004. That is, there is no behavior that perfectly discriminates between truthful and deceptive messages. For all the talk about Pinocchio's nose, there are other more urgent lessons from the story of Pinocchio pertinent to deception research.In his adventures, Pinocchio causes mischief and mayhem, and among his many foibles is the ease with which he is tempted to do what is easy and immediately satisfying but ultimately dangerous, rather than what is difficult and responsible. * timothy.luke@psy.gu.se. For their helpful comments, suggestions, and inspiration, I am grateful to Fabi Alceste, Karl Ask, Charlie Bond, Will Crozier, Bella DePaulo, Emelie Ernberg, Pär Anders Granhag, Maria Hartwig, Lorraine Hope, Emily Joseph, Louise Jupe, Erik Mac Giolla, Patty Sanchez, Rebecca Willén, and three anonymous reviewers, as well as the many supportive others who provided encouragement and tolerated my ravings and rantings.

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Is the startle reaction an emotion?

Cited by 196 publications

References 22 publications

Cardiovascular costs of emotion suppression cross ethnic lines

Cardiovascular costs of emotion suppression cross ethnic lines

Unconscious Facial Reactions to Emotional Facial Expressions

Lessons from Pinocchio: Cues to deception may be highly exaggerated

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