From Dissonance to Compassion: Does a Loving-Kindness Meditation Amplify Joy Mimicry and Attenuate Reactive Frowns to Disgust?
Journal of Nonverbal Behavior June 6, 2026 Heidi Mauersberger, Till Kastendieck, Daniel Huppertz et al.
Emotional mimicry—copying others' emotional expressions—typically strengthens social bonds only when the emotion fits the situation. A brief Loving-Kindness Meditation (LKM) was tested to see if it could broaden affiliative responses. In an online study with 214 participants, people watched videos of targets expressing joy or disgust in contexts that were either congruent (e.g., smiling at a funny clip) or incongruent (e.g., smiling at a disgusting clip). Facial muscle activity was recorded, and participants rated closeness and appropriateness. Mimicry combined with high closeness ratings occurred only for joy in a matching context; incongruent displays evoked disapproval. LKM increased mimicry of congruent joy and reduced frowning to incongruent disgust, without changing appropriateness or closeness judgments. This suggests LKM can selectively boost affiliative mimicry and temper disapproval in emotionally discordant situations.