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. 2014 Jul 1;36(4):309-320.
doi: 10.1080/01973533.2014.917973.

Communicating without the Face: Holistic Perception of Emotions of People with Facial Paralysis

Kathleen Bogart  1 , Linda Tickle-Degnen  2 , Nalini Ambady  3
Affiliations

Communicating without the Face: Holistic Perception of Emotions of People with Facial Paralysis

Kathleen Bogart et al. Basic Appl Soc Psych. .

Abstract

People with facial paralysis (FP) report social difficulties, but some attempt to compensate by increasing expressivity in their bodies and voices. We examined perceivers' emotion judgments of videos of people with FP to understand how they interpret the combination of an inexpressive face with an expressive body and voice. Results suggest perceivers form less favorable impressions of people with severe FP, but compensatory expression is effective in improving impressions. Perceivers seemed to form holistic impressions when rating happiness and possibly sadness. Findings have implications for basic emotion research and social functioning interventions for people with FP.

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Perceivers’ ratings of targets recalling a happy event. Error bars represent standard errors.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Perceivers’ ratings of targets recalling a sad event. Error bars represent standard errors.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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