The facial expressions of the spirit go beyond geography and culture to a worldwide, new study show. Credit: Alan Cowan
At a time when nativism is on the rise, the study demonstrates the universality of human emotional expression.
At a birthday party in Brazil, a funeral in Kenya or a protest in Hong Kong, humans all use the same facial expressions in the same social contexts, such as smiles, freshness, small, small, small, small, small, small, small, small, small, small, small, small, small, small, small, small, small, small, small, small, small, small, small, small Tiny Tiny Tiny Tiny Tiny Tiny Tiny Tiny Tiny Tiny Tiny Tiny Tiny Tiny Tiny Tiny Tiny Tiny Tiny Tiny Tiny Tiny Tiny Tiny Tiny Tiny Tiny Tiny Tiny Tiny Tiny Tiny Tiny Tiny Tiny Tiny Tiny Tiny Tiny Tiny Tiny Tiny Tiny Tiny Tiny Tiny Tiny Tiny
The findings were published in the journal Today, December 16, 2020 Nature, Confirm the universality of human emotional expression on geographical and cultural boundaries at a time when nativism and populism are on the rise around the world.
“This study shows how people in different corners of the world have significantly similar identities in how we express emotions in the most meaningful contexts of our lives,” said Dacher Keltner, professor and founding director of the psychology professor at UC Berkeley, co-lead author of the study. . Greater Good Science Center.
Researchers at UC Berkeley and Google used a machine-learning technique called “Deep Neural Network” to analyze facial expressions in nearly a million video clips uploaded to YouTube from people in 144 countries across North, Central and South America, Africa, Europe. Middle East and Asia.
16 Facial expressions are the most common in emotional situations worldwide. Credit: Alan Cowan
“This is the first worldwide analysis of how facial expressions are used in everyday life, and it shows us that universal human emotional expressions are much more complex than those of many wealthy and previous scientists,” said lead researcher Alan Cowen. Said researcher study lead author Alan Covey. UC Berkeley and Google both led the development and study of the Unda Neural Network Algorithm.
Covey has created an inte online interactive map showing how the algorithm tracks the variety of facial expressions associated with 16 emotions.
In addition to promoting cross-cultural empathy, potential applications include helping people who have difficulty reading emotions, such as children with autism and adults, to recognize the faces that humans normally make to express certain emotions.
The typical human face has 43 different muscles that can be browsed for the eyes, nose, mouth, jaw, chin, and thousands of different expressions.
How they conducted the study
First, researchers used Cowen’s machine-learning algorithm to log facial expressions shown in 6 million video clips of events and interactions around the world, such as watching fireworks, dancing with joy, or reassuring a sleeping child.
They used the algorithm to find examples of 16 facial expressions associated with entertainment, anger, awe, concentration, confusion, contempt, contentment, desire, despair, doubt, excitement, interest, pain, sadness, surprise, and victory.
Further, they correlated facial expressions with contexts and scenarios in which they were created in different regions of the world and discovered significant similarities in how people from geographical and cultural boundaries use facial expressions in different social contexts.
“We’ve found that rich facial expressions – including subtle expressions – we use awe, pain, victory, and 13 other emotions – are used in similar social situations around the world,” Cowan said.
For example, Cowen notes that, in video clips, people around the world watched in amazement during fireworks displays, showed satisfaction at weddings, smoked in concentration while performing martial arts, expressed doubts about protests, suffered pain while lifting weights, and rocked. Victory in concerts and competitive sports events.
The results show that people from different cultures participate in about 70% of facial expressions in response to different social and emotional situations.
“This supports Darwin’s theory that expressing emotion in our faces is universal in humans,” Keltner said. “Physical display of our emotions can define us as a species, enhance our communication and collaboration skills, and ensure our survival.”
Reference: worldwide Lawn S. Cowen, Dacher Keltner, Florian Shroff, Brendan J., Hartwig Adam and Gautam Prasad 16 December 2020, “Sixteen facial expressions are found in similar contexts around the world. Nature.
DOI: 10.1038 / s41586-020-3037-7
In addition to Keltner and Cowen, the study’s co-authors are Florian Shroff, Brendan Jouu, Hartwig Adam and Gautam Prasad, all at Google.
