Embodying emotion.
Paula M Niedenthal
Science May 18, 2007 DOI: 10.1126/science.1136930 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Theoretical or philosophical paper Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Key points | Argues that embodiment of emotion—induced by facial expression and posture—causally influences emotional information processing, with congruent bodily states facilitating comprehension and incongruent states impairing it. |
Abstract
Recent theories of embodied cognition suggest new ways to look at how we process emotional information. The theories suggest that perceiving and thinking about emotion involve perceptual, somatovisceral, and motoric reexperiencing (collectively referred to as "embodiment") of the relevant emotion in one's self. The embodiment of emotion, when induced in human participants by manipulations of facial expression and posture in the laboratory, causally affects how emotional information is processed. Congruence between the recipient's bodily expression of emotion and the sender's emotional tone of language, for instance, facilitates comprehension of the communication, whereas incongruence can impair comprehension. Taken all together, recent findings provide a scientific account of the familiar contention that "when you're smiling, the whole world smiles with you."
Citations in the library
Cited by 35
- Coherence between emotional experience and physiology: Does body awareness training have an impact? Emotion 2010
- Brief mindfulness meditation training reduces mind wandering: The critical role of acceptance. Emotion November 7, 2016
- Embodied cognition: dimensions, domains and applications Adaptive Behavior May 4, 2020
- From Wide Cognition to Mechanisms: A Silent Revolution. Frontiers in Psychology 2018
- Moving beyond the lab: investigating empathy through the Empirical 5E approach. Frontiers in Psychology 2023
and 30 more in the library