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Encoding of Facial Expressions of Emotion and Knowledge of American Sign Language
Author(s) -
GOLDSTEIN NAOMI E.,
SEXTON JAMES,
FELDMAN ROBERT S.
Publication year - 2000
Publication title -
journal of applied social psychology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.822
H-Index - 111
eISSN - 1559-1816
pISSN - 0021-9029
DOI - 10.1111/j.1559-1816.2000.tb02305.x
Subject(s) - psychology , sadness , disgust , facial expression , surprise , anger , happiness , nonverbal communication , kinesics , american sign language , sign language , emotional expression , social psychology , developmental psychology , communication , linguistics , philosophy
The relationship between knowledge of American Sign Language (ASL) and the ability to encode facial expressions of emotion was explored. Participants were 55 college students, half of whom were intermediate‐level students of ASL and half of whom had no experience with a signed language. In front of a video camera, participants posed the affective facial expressions of happiness, sadness, fear, surprise, anger, and disgust. These facial expressions were randomized onto stimulus tapes that were then shown to 60 untrained judges who tried to identify the expressed emotions. Results indicated that hearing subjects knowledgeable in ASL were generally more adept than were hearing nonsigners at conveying emotions through facial expression. Results have implications for better understanding the nature of nonverbal communication in hearing and deaf individuals.