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12 - Expression Entails Anticipation

Toward a Self-Regulatory Model of Bodily Feedback Effects

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 June 2012

Gün R. Semin  and
Eliot R. Smith
By
Jens Förster  and
Ronald S. Friedman
Gün R. Semin
Affiliation:
Koninklijke Nederlandse Akademie van Wetenschappen, Amsterdam
Eliot R. Smith
Affiliation:
Indiana University, Bloomington
Jens Förster
Affiliation:
International University, Bremen, Germany, and University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Ronald S. Friedman
Affiliation:
University of Albany, State University of New York, NY, USA
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Summary

Expressive behavior represents more than merely a reaction to stimuli in the external world. Obviously, individuals nod when they are in agreement and embrace when they like one another; however, because the link between information processing and expressive behavior is overlearned, over the course of a lifetime, even innate expressive behavior comes to reciprocally influence the way that individuals process information. Accordingly, research on the impact of bodily feedback has repeatedly demonstrated that unobtrusively induced expression patterns can unintentionally influence cognition, emotion, and behavior.

In this chapter, we will argue that models accounting for such effects largely overlap with models predicting affective influences on cognition and behavior because they focus on the affective meaning of the bodily patterns. However, some bodily cues can activate systems of approach or avoidance, triggering strategic inclinations that operate independent of affect. We will introduce a self-regulatory model to explain such effects. Let us first summarize some of the pertinent findings.

FACIAL AND BODILY FEEDBACK EFFECTS: SUMMARY OF RESEARCH FINDINGS

Effects of bodily expression patterns have been found on feelings, evaluative judgments, memory, and behavior. For example, several experiments have shown that unobtrusively induced expression patterns influence participants' reported feelings (e.g., Zajonc, Murphy, & Inglehart, 1989). Prominently, Stepper and Strack (1993) found that participants feel pride more intensely if they experience positive feedback while maintaining a positive, upright body position than if they receive the same feedback while in a negative, slouched position.

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Embodied Grounding
Social, Cognitive, Affective, and Neuroscientific Approaches
 , pp. 289 - 308
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2008

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  • Expression Entails Anticipation
    • By Jens Förster, International University, Bremen, Germany, and University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands, Ronald S. Friedman, University of Albany, State University of New York, NY, USA
  • Gün R. Semin, Koninklijke Nederlandse Akademie van Wetenschappen, Amsterdam, Eliot R. Smith, Indiana University, Bloomington
  • Book: Embodied Grounding
  • Online publication: 05 June 2012
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511805837.013
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  • Expression Entails Anticipation
    • By Jens Förster, International University, Bremen, Germany, and University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands, Ronald S. Friedman, University of Albany, State University of New York, NY, USA
  • Gün R. Semin, Koninklijke Nederlandse Akademie van Wetenschappen, Amsterdam, Eliot R. Smith, Indiana University, Bloomington
  • Book: Embodied Grounding
  • Online publication: 05 June 2012
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511805837.013
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  • Expression Entails Anticipation
    • By Jens Förster, International University, Bremen, Germany, and University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands, Ronald S. Friedman, University of Albany, State University of New York, NY, USA
  • Gün R. Semin, Koninklijke Nederlandse Akademie van Wetenschappen, Amsterdam, Eliot R. Smith, Indiana University, Bloomington
  • Book: Embodied Grounding
  • Online publication: 05 June 2012
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511805837.013
Available formats
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