Valence and Arousal: A Comparison of Two Sets of Emotional Facial Expressions

Abstract

Facial expressions are often used in emotion research. Although they may differ in several relevant features such as the intensity of the facial expressions, the picture sets have not been compared systematically. Because the intensity of expressions is thought to determine the level of emotional arousal induced by the stimulus, the first aim of this study was to test whether 2 frequently used sets of emotional facial expressions induce different levels of perceived arousal. Furthermore, we tested whether the sex of the actor modulates arousal ratings. Participants viewed facial expressions from the NimStim set (more intense expressions) and the Karolinska Directed Emotional Faces set (less intense expressions). Female expressions from the Karolinska Directed Emotional Faces but male expressions from the NimStim set were rated as more emotionally arousing. We conclude that less intense female expressions but more intense male expressions may be more potent in inducing emotional responses. This study may encourage researchers to further compare the properties of picture sets.

Happy mouth and sad eyes: Scanning emotional facial expressions.

“…Stimuli were chosen from the Karolinska Directed Emotional Faces set (Lundqvist, Flykt, & Ohman, 1998), which has proven to reliably evoke specific emotions (Goeleven, De Raedt, Leyman, & Verschuere, 2008) with relatively naturalistic emotional expressions (Adolph & Alpers, 2010). Eight female and eight male actors, each depicting afraid, angry, happy, neutral and sad emotional expressions, were included in a rating task (see Figure 1).…”

The many faces of a face: Comparing stills and videos of facial expressions in eight dimensions (SAVE database)

“…Not only it is a basic property of emotion experience, but is also a fundamental component of emotional responding (Barrett, 2006). Therefore, emotional valence can modulate the characteristics and intensity of emotional responses (Adolph & Alpers, 2010;Nyklicek, Thayer, & Van Doornen, 1997). This modulation is especially true for facial stimuli (Langner et al, 2010;Russell & Bullock, 1985).…”

“…For example, eyebrow frowning (produced by contracting the corrugator supercilii) is associated with unpleasant experiences, and raised lip corners (produced by contracting the zygomaticus major) are associated with pleasant ones (for a review, see Colombetti, 2005). The valence of facial stimuli has been assessed in a few validation studies (e.g., Adolph & Alpers, 2010;Langner et al, 2010;McEwan et al, 2014;O'Reilly et al, 2016;. In the present study, we asked participants to indicate the extent to which the expression displayed by the target was negative-positive (1 = Very negative, 7 = Very positive; e.g., Langner et al, 2010;McEwan et al, 2014;O'Reilly et al, 2016).…”

“…Arousal has been assessed in some of the available normative ratings of facial stimuli (e.g., Adolph & Alpers, 2010;Goeleven et al, 2008;McEwan et al, 2014;. Some of these studies have already established that arousal interacts with other variables, as it is the case of valence.…”

“…Higher perceived intensity in a facial expression is likely to improve decoding accuracy, but does not necessarily lead to more intense emotional states (Adolph & Alpers, 2010). However, empirical evidence has been showing that the perception of intensity in emotional expressions is not straightforward.…”