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.
Abstract Emotional mimicry—the imitation of others’ emotions—fosters social bonding, but only when an affiliative emotion aligns with its context. We tested whether a brief Loving-Kindness Meditation (LKM) could broaden affiliative responsiveness to both congruent and incongruent emotional displays. In an online study (N = 214), participants watched targets expressing joy or disgust in scenes...