The impact of trust on creative problem solving groups.

Examined the dynamics of interpersonal trust in group creative problem solving. Each member of 29 4-person groups of undergraduate females was led via manipulated feedback from 3 other group members to perceive a high trust, low trust, or control (no trust) manipulation condition. Two instructional sets were used: a standard brainstorming technique and synectics. Performance was measured by the number of ideas each group generated. Self-report data were taken on perceived effort, satisfaction, and group attractiveness. The high trust and control groups outperformed those in the low trust conditions on each of 3 tasks. Also, it appears that when information about trust is lacking in the group, members assume that relatively high trust exists. No differential impact due to problem-solving instructions was found. (21 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Locus of control, interpersonal trust, and nonverbal communication accuracy.

Two measures of nonverbal sensitivity to facial cues, sensitivity to unknown others, and sensitivity to an intimate other, along with a measure of general sending accuracy, were obtained from 48 married couples (20–31 yrs old). Rotter's Internal–External Locus of Control Scale and the Rotter Trust Scale were administered. It was predicted that (a) internal Ss would demonstrate better nonverbal encoding and decoding skills, (b) high-trust Ss would be better able to decode the nonverbal cues of other, and (c) the combination of internality and high trust would be associated with the highest level of decoding abilities and that the combination of external and low trust would correlate with the lowest level of decoding abilities. Results show no relation between either control or trust expectancies and sending accuracy. Trust expectancies covaried with nonverbal receiving abilities for both men and women, with high trust being associated with increased sensitivity. Control expectancies covaried with general nonverbal receiving abilities differently for both men and women, with internal women scoring higher and internal low-trust men scoring lowest on these measures. (25 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Are attractive men's faces masculine or feminine? The importance of type of facial stimuli.

The authors investigated whether differences in facial stimuli could explain the inconsistencies in the facial attractiveness literature regarding whether adults prefer more masculine- or more feminine-looking male faces. Their results demonstrated that use of a female average to dimorphically transform a male facial average produced stimuli that did not accurately reflect the relationship between masculinity and attractiveness. In contrast, use of averages of masculine males and averages of feminine males produced stimuli that did accurately reflect the relationship between masculinity and attractiveness. Their findings suggest that masculinity contributes more to male facial attractiveness than does femininity, but future research should investigate how various combinations of facial cues contribute to male facial attractiveness. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Trust, trustworthiness, and trust propensity: A meta-analytic test of their unique relationships with risk taking and job performance.

The trust literature distinguishes trustworthiness (the ability, benevolence, and integrity of a trustee) and trust propensity (a dispositional willingness to rely on others) from trust (the intention to accept vulnerability to a trustee based on positive expectations of his or her actions). Although this distinction has clarified some confusion in the literature, it remains unclear (a) which trust antecedents have the strongest relationships with trust and (b) whether trust fully mediates the effects of trustworthiness and trust propensity on behavioral outcomes. Our meta-analysis of 132 independent samples summarized the relationships between the trust variables and both risk taking and job performance (task performance, citizenship behavior, counterproductive behavior). Meta-analytic structural equation modeling supported a partial mediation model wherein trustworthiness and trust propensity explained incremental variance in the behavioral outcomes when trust was controlled. Further analyses revealed that the trustworthiness dimensions also predicted affective commitment, which had unique relationships with the outcomes when controlling for trust. These results generalized across different types of trust measures (i.e., positive expectations measures, willingness-to-be-vulnerable measures, and direct measures) and different trust referents (i.e., leaders, coworkers). (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

The impact of positive mood on trust in interpersonal and intergroup interactions.

Although the trust development literature has been characterized overwhelmingly by rationality-based models, the current research attempts to explain how affect can influence this process. To better understand how and why affect would influence trust development, 5 experiments were conducted to examine the effects of positive mood on people’s tendencies to trust and distrust others. Consistent with theory, which argues that positive mood promotes schema reliance, the relationship between positive mood and trust was influenced by the presence of cues that indicated whether the other party was trustworthy or untrustworthy. Across 5 studies, trusting behaviors (Experiments 1–3) and perceptions of trustworthiness (Experiments 4 and 5) were found to be influenced by cues associated with trust or distrust. Specifically, when available cues about the other party promoted trust, people in a positive mood increased their trust; when cues promoted distrust, people in a positive mood decreased their trust. The data support the expectation that affect can influence trust development, although the relationship is more complex than main effect predictions of mood-congruency models. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Studying the dynamics of emotional expression using synthesized facial muscle movements.

Synthetic images of facial expressions were used to assess whether judges can correctly recognize emotions exclusively on the basis of configurations of facial muscle movements. A first study showed that static, synthetic images modeled after a series of photographs that are widely used in facial expression research yielded recognition rates and confusion patterns comparable to posed photos. In a second study, animated synthetic images were used to examine whether schematic facial expressions consisting entirely of theoretically postulated facial muscle configurations can be correctly recognized. Recognition rates for the synthetic expressions were far above chance, and the confusion patterns were comparable to those obtained with posed photos. In addition, the effect of static versus dynamic presentation of the expressions was studied. Dynamic presentation increased overall recognition accuracy and reduced confusions between unrelated emotions. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Processing and recognition of facial affect in schizophrenia

A deficit in the recognition of facial affect has been well documented in people with schizophrenia. Our 1995 research with normal subjects showed that hemispheric bias for processing facial affect is related to accuracy of recognition of facial affect. We tested whether this relationship holds in a sample of 25 people with schizophrenia who completed tasks of identification of facial affect and chimeric facial affect. Subjects with a left visual-field bias were significantly more accurate in identifying one facial emotion (sad) than were other subjects. Individual differences in hemispheric advantage for processing affect appears to be an important variable related to functional brain capacity within different populations.     

The effects of trust in authority and procedural fairness on cooperation.

The present research examined the effect of procedural fairness and trust in an authority on people's willingness to cooperate with the authority across a wide range of social situations. Prior research has shown that the presence of information about whether an authority can be trusted moderates the effect of procedural fairness. If no trust information is available, procedural fairness influences people's reactions. This is not the case when information about the trustworthiness of the authority is present. In the present article, it is argued that information about whether the authority can or cannot be trusted may also moderate the effect of procedural fairness in predicting levels of cooperation. Assuming that the use of fair procedures by authorities that cannot be trusted is less influential than is the enactment of procedures by trustworthy authorities, it is predicted that trust in authority moderates the influence of procedural fairness on cooperation in such a way that procedural fairness has a positive effect on cooperation primarily when trust in authority is high. Results from 4 studies (2 experimental studies and 2 field studies) provide supportive evidence for this interaction. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Social presence, facial feedback, and emotion.

To test whether facial expressions regulate the expressers' emotional experience, 59 high school and college students smelled pleasant and disgusting odors while reacting to them spontaneously, with a facial pose indicating that the odors were pleasant, or with a facial pose indicating that they were disgusting. In a result that supported the facial feedback hypothesis, Ss evaluated the odors consistently with their facial poses, but the odors themselves had a far greater impact on evaluations than did posing instructions. To test whether spontaneous and deceptive emotional expressions would be more effective as communication if the expresser were in the presence of another rather than alone, Ss smelled odors when they were alone or when seated next to another naive S who could not see them. Contrary to prediction, Ss were less successful facial communicators in the presence of another, as assessed by 7 undergraduate judges. In this condition they communicated their evaluations less when they were spontaneously reacting to the odors and leaked their evaluations more when they were trying to hide their expressions. (38 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Content and grammatical sex bias on the Interpersonal Trust Scale and differential trust toward women and men.

Modified the items on the Interpersonal Trust Scale (ITS) to specify the sex of the reference groups to be trusted in order to study possible content and grammatical sex bias in responses to the ITS and to study whether men and women differ in their trust toward men and women. There was clear evidence for both masculine content sex bias and grammatical sex bias in responses by both college men and women (192 and 322 Ss, respectively). The trust scale provides a conservative estimate of trust toward women and indicates a critical need for ITS-trust-toward-women studies. Men and women indicated greater trust toward women than toward men or non-sex-specified referents wherever comparisons were possible. These findings coupled with differences between J. B. Rotter's trust concept and factors of trust on his scale suggest that 2 aspects of trust are sex linked and also suggest the importance of testing the implicit hypothesis that more important trusting decisions are made toward men than toward women. This study extends sex bias research to personality measures, distinguishes 2 new types of sex bias, and provides a methodology for testing the effects of these biases. (41 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The moderating role of safety-specific trust on the relation between safety-specific leadership and safety citizenship behaviors.

The authors examined whether safety-specific trust moderates or mediates the relationship between safety-specific transformational leadership and subordinates' safety citizenship behavior. Data from 139 subordinate-supervisor dyads were collected from the United Kingdom construction industry and analyzed using hierarchical regression models. Results showed that safety-specific trust moderated rather than mediated the effects of safety-specific transformational leaders on subordinates' behavior. Specifically, in conditions of high and moderate safety-specific trust, leaders had a significant effect on subordinates' safety citizenship behavior. However, in conditions of low safety-specific trust, leaders did not significantly influence subordinates' safety citizenship behavior. The implications of these findings for general safety theory and practice are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

More than mere mimicry? The influence of emotion on rapid facial reactions to faces.

Within a second of seeing an emotional facial expression, people typically match that expression. These rapid facial reactions (RFRs), often termed mimicry, are implicated in emotional contagion, social perception, and embodied affect, yet ambiguity remains regarding the mechanism(s) involved. Two studies evaluated whether RFRs to faces are solely nonaffective motor responses or whether emotional processes are involved. Brow (corrugator, related to anger) and forehead (frontalis, related to fear) activity were recorded using facial electromyography (EMG) while undergraduates in two conditions (fear induction vs. neutral) viewed fear, anger, and neutral facial expressions. As predicted, fear induction increased fear expressions to angry faces within 1000 ms of exposure, demonstrating an emotional component of RFRs. This did not merely reflect increased fear from the induction, because responses to neutral faces were unaffected. Considering RFRs to be merely nonaffective automatic reactions is inaccurate. RFRs are not purely motor mimicry; emotion influences early facial responses to faces. The relevance of these data to emotional contagion, autism, and the mirror system-based perspectives on imitation is discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Facial expressions of emotion: What lies beyond minimal universality?

This article discusses the controversy over whether attribution (recognition) of emotions from facial expressions is universal (P. Ekman, 1994; C. E. Izard, 1994; J. A. Russell, 1994). Agreement emerged on various issues. There exists at least Minimal Universality (people everywhere can infer something about others from their facial behavior). Anger, sadness, and other semantic categories for emotion are not pancultural and are not the precise messages conveyed by facial expressions. Emotions can occur without facial expressions, and facial expressions can occur without emotions. Further evidence is needed to determine the relationship between emotion and facial behavior, what determines that relationship, how facial behavior is interpreted, and how much the interpretation varies with culture and language. Ekman's (1994) objections are answered. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The recognition of threatening facial stimuli.

Two studies examined the information that defines a threatening facial display. The first study identified those facial characteristics that distinguish between representations of threatening and nonthreatening facial displays. Masks that presented either threatening or nonthreatening facial displays were obtained from a number of non-Western cultures and scored for the presence of those facial features that discriminated between such displays in the drawings of two American samples. Threatening masks contained a significantly higher number of these characteristics across all cultures examined. The second study determined whether the information provided by the facial display might be more primary nonrepresentational visual patterns than facial features with obvious denotative meaning (e.g., diagonal lines rather than downturned eyebrows). The subjective response to sets of diagonal, angular, and curvilinear visual stimuli revealed that the nonrepresentational features of angularity and diagonality in the visual stimulus appeared to have the ability to evoke the subjective responses that convey the meaning of threat. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effect of facial expression variations on ratings of infants' physical attractiveness.

A potentially important influence on how an adult responds to an infant is the infant's physical attractiveness. To assess whether an infant's physical attractiveness can reliably be judged despite variations in an infant's facial expression, 115 college students rated the "cuteness" of a set of photographs of infants. The set contained 3 photographs varying in facial expression of each of 24 infants. Results indicate that although photographs depicting more positive facial expressions received higher cuteness ratings, cuteness ratings varied less within individual infants than across infants. General facial configuration was more important than facial expression in determining adults' perceptions of infants' cuteness. It is concluded that physical attractiveness appears to be a reliably measurable variable of individual difference as early as infancy. (6 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The role of facial response in the experience of emotion.

Facial expression and emotional stimuli were varied orthogonally in a 3?×?4 factorial design to test whether facial expression is necessary or sufficient to influence emotional experience. 123 undergraduates watched a film eliciting fear, sadness, or no emotion while holding their facial muscles in the position characteristic of fear or sadness or in an effortful but nonemotional grimace; those in a 4th group received no facial instructions. The Ss believed that the study concerned subliminal perception and that the facial positions were necessary to prevent physiological recording artifacts. The films had powerful effects on reported emotions, the facial expressions none. Correlations between facial expression and reported emotion were zero. Sad and fearful Ss showed distinctive patterns of physiological arousal. Facial expression also tended to affect physiological responses in a manner consistent with an effort hypothesis. (33 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Facial reactions to smoking cues relate to ambivalence about smoking.

In this study, the authors used the Facial Action Coding System (FACS; P. Ekman & W. V. Friesen, 1978) to examine the immediate facial responses of abstinent smokers exposed to smoking cues. The aim was to investigate whether facial expressions thought to be linked to ambivalence would relate to more traditional measures of ambivalence about smoking. The authors adapted N. A. Heather's (1998) definition of ambivalence about smoking, which emphasizes difficulty in refraining from smoking despite intentions to do so. Ambivalence expressed during smoking cue exposure was operationalized as the simultaneous occurrence of positive and negative affect-related facial expressions. Thirty-four nicotine-deprived dependent smokers were presented with in vivo smoking cues, and their facial expressions were coded using FACS. Participants also completed self-report measures related to ambivalence about smoking. Smokers who displayed ambivalent facial expressions during smoking cue exposure reported significantly higher scores on measures of smoking ambivalence than did those who did not display ambivalent facial expressions. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Newcasters' facial expressions and voting behavior of viewers: Can a smile elect a president?

Two studies examined the association between newscasters' facial expressions and the voting behavior of viewers. In Exp I, with 45 undergraduates, the facial expressions exhibited by network newscasters while referring to the 1984 presidential candidates prior to the election were investigated. Results indicate that 1 of the 3 newscasters exhibited significantly more positive facial expressions when referring to Reagan than when referring to Mondale. In Exp II, a telephone survey of approximately 200 individuals was conducted to determine whether voting behavior was associated with the nightly news program watched. It was found that voters who regularly watched the newscaster who exhibited the biased facial expressions were significantly more likely to vote for the candidate that the newscaster had smiled upon. Three explanations for the results are discussed: (1) Viewing the newscasters' biased facial expressions caused the viewers' voting preferences; (2) the viewers' voting preferences determined their viewing of biased newscasters' facial expressions; or (3) some other variable accounted for the findings. (30 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Bring it on: Angry facial expressions potentiate approach-motivated motor behavior.

Although many psychological models suggest that human beings are invariably motivated to avoid negative stimuli, more recent theories suggest that people are frequently motivated to approach angering social challenges in order to confront and overcome them. To examine these models, the current investigation sought to determine whether angry facial expressions potentiate approach-motivated motor behaviors. Across 3 studies, individuals were faster to initiate approach movements toward angry facial expressions than to initiate avoidance movements away from such facial expressions. This approach advantage differed significantly from participants’ responses to both emotionally neutral (Studies 1 & 3) and fearful (Study 2) facial expressions. Furthermore, this pattern was most apparent when physical approach appeared to be effective in overcoming the social challenge posed by angry facial expressions (Study 3). The results are discussed in terms of the processes underlying anger-related approach motivation and the conditions under which they are likely to arise. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

"Facial expressions of emotion influence memory for facial identity in an automatic way": Correction to D'Argembeau and Van der Linden (2007).

Reports an error in "Facial expressions of emotion influence memory for facial identity in an automatic way" by Arnaud D'Argembeau and Martial Van der Linden (Emotion, 2007[Aug], Vol 7[3], 507-515). The image printed for Figure 3 was incorrect. The correct image is provided in the erratum. (The following abstract of the original article appeared in record 2007-11660-005.) Previous studies indicate that the encoding of new facial identities in memory is influenced by the type of expression displayed by the faces. In the current study, the authors investigated whether or not this influence requires attention to be explicitly directed toward the affective meaning of facial expressions. In a first experiment, the authors found that facial identity was better recognized when the faces were initially encountered with a happy rather than an angry expression, even when attention was oriented toward facial features other than expression. Using the Remember/Know/Guess paradigm in a second experiment, the authors found that the influence of facial expressions on the conscious recollection of facial identity was even more pronounced when participants' attention was not directed toward expressions. It is suggested that the affective meaning of facial expressions automatically modulates the encoding of facial identity in memory. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)