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Interpreting President Barack Obama's Facial Displays of Emotion: Revisiting the Dartmouth Group
Author(s) -
Stewart Patrick A.,
Ford Dowe Pearl K.
Publication year - 2013
Publication title -
political psychology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.419
H-Index - 95
eISSN - 1467-9221
pISSN - 0162-895X
DOI - 10.1111/pops.12004
Subject(s) - psychology , happiness , social psychology , anger , facial expression , ethnic group , politics , power (physics) , sociology , communication , physics , quantum mechanics , anthropology , political science , law
Charismatic presidents like J ohn F . K ennedy, R onald R eagan, and now B arack O bama have been able to overcome stereotype‐based barriers to political power by connecting emotionally with viewers, particularly through their nonverbal skills. In this study we focus on the facial displays of emotion by P resident O bama and how participants interpret them. This study builds upon the pioneering research of the D artmouth G roup concerning response to displays of happiness‐reassurance by political leaders. It will first replicate and extend upon existing research by using E kman and F riesen's F acial A ction C oding S ystem ( FACS ) to characterize facial displays by P resident O bama, specifically three neutral displays and three different types of smiles. Second, this study replicates research carried out over two decades ago concerning individual differences in sex, ethnicity, and age cohort on response to political candidates culturally defined as B lack. Video focusing on the head and torso were FACS coded and presented in a web‐based experiment to 79 participants working at a southern institution of higher education. The participants identified the emotions felt by P resident O bama on a scale ranging from “not at all” to “extremely” focusing on the basic emotion terms of: “Happy” and “Playful” (happiness‐reassurance) and “Angry” and “Disgusted” (anger‐threat). Findings suggest participants differentiate between subtle facial‐display differences and that there are differences based upon ethnicity and support for P resident O bama when they interpret his facial displays of emotion.