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Modulation of facial reactions to avatar emotional faces by nonconscious competition priming
Author(s) -
Weyers Peter,
Mühlberger Andreas,
Kund Anja,
Hess Ursula,
Pauli Paul
Publication year - 2009
Publication title -
psychophysiology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.661
H-Index - 156
eISSN - 1469-8986
pISSN - 0048-5772
DOI - 10.1111/j.1469-8986.2008.00771.x
Subject(s) - psychology , priming (agriculture) , facial expression , subliminal stimuli , facial electromyography , mimicry , social psychology , response priming , competition (biology) , cognitive psychology , avatar , communication , cognition , neuroscience , lexical decision task , ecology , philosophy , botany , germination , theology , biology
To investigate whether subliminally priming for competition influences facial reactions to facial emotional displays, 49 participants were either subliminally competition primed or neutrally primed. Thereafter, they viewed computer generated avatar faces with happy, neutral, and sad expressions while Corrugator supercilii and Zygomaticus major reactions were recorded. Results revealed facial mimicry to happy and sad faces in the neutrally primed group but not the competition primed group. Furthermore, subliminal competition priming enhanced Corrugator supercilii activity after an initial relaxation while viewing happy faces. An impression formation task revealed counter empathic effects confirming successful competition priming. Overall, results indicate that nonconscious processes influence a presumably nonconscious behavior.