Hostname: page-component-8448b6f56d-c4f8m Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-16T19:25:16.519Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

No mirrors for the powerful: Why dominant smiles are not processed using embodied simulation

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 December 2010

Li Huang
Affiliation:
Department of Management and Organizations, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL 60208. l-huang@kellogg.northwestern.eduagalinsky@kellogg.northwestern.eduhttp://www.kellogg.northwestern.edu/faculty/huanghttp://www.kellogg.northwestern.edu/faculty/bio/galinsky.htm
Adam D. Galinsky
Affiliation:
Department of Management and Organizations, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL 60208. l-huang@kellogg.northwestern.eduagalinsky@kellogg.northwestern.eduhttp://www.kellogg.northwestern.edu/faculty/huanghttp://www.kellogg.northwestern.edu/faculty/bio/galinsky.htm

Abstract

A complete model of smile interpretation needs to incorporate its social context. We argue that embodied simulation is an unlikely route for understanding dominance smiles, which typically occur in the context of power. We support this argument by discussing the lack of eye contact with dominant faces and the facial and postural complementarity, rather than mimicry, that pervades hierarchical relationships.

Type
Open Peer Commentary
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2010

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Berger, C. R. (1994) Power, dominance, and social interaction. In: Handbook of interpersonal communication, 2nd edition, ed. Knapp, M. L. & Miller, G. R., pp. 450507. Sage.Google Scholar
Bertrand, M. (1969) The behavioural repertoire of the stumptail macaque: A descriptive and comparative study. Bibliotheca Primatalogica 11:1273.Google Scholar
Chance, M. R. A. (1962) The interpretation of some agonistic postures: The role of “cut-off” acts and postures. Symposium of the Zoological Society 8:7189.Google Scholar
de Waal, F. B. M. (1989) Peacemaking among primates. Harvard University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Edinger, J. A. & Patterson, M. L. (1983) Nonverbal involvement and social control. Psychological Bulletin 93(1):3056.Google Scholar
Ellsworth, P. & Carlsmith, J. M. (1973) Eye contact and gaze aversion in an aggressive encounter. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 28(2):280–92.Google Scholar
Fiske, A. P. (1992) The four elementary forms of sociality: Framework for a unified theory of social relations. Psychological Review 99(4):689723.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Hall, J. A., Coats, E. J. & LeBeau, L. S. (2005) Nonverbal behavior and the vertical dimension of social relations: A meta-analysis. Psychological Bulletin 131(6):898924.Google Scholar
Leavitt, H. J. (2005) Top down: Why hierarchies are here to stay and how to manage them more effectively. Harvard Business School Press.Google Scholar
Lipp, O. V., Price, S. M. & Tellegen, C. L. (2009) No effect of inversion on attentional and affective processing of facial expressions. Emotion 9(2):248–59.Google Scholar
Magee, J. C. & Galinsky, A. D. (2008) Social hierarchy: The self-reinforcing nature of power and status. Academy of Management Annals 2:351–98.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mehrabian, A. (1969) Significance of posture and position in the communication of attitude and status relationships. Psychological Bulletin 71(5):359–72.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Öhman, A., Lundqvist, D. & Esteves, F. (2001) The face in the crowd revisited: A threat advantage with schematic stimuli. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 80(3):381–96.Google Scholar
Osgood, C. E., Suci, G. J. & Tannenbaum, P. H. (1957) The measurement of meaning. University of Illinois Press.Google Scholar
Redican, W. K. (1975) Facial expression in non human primates. In: Primate behaviorvol. 4, ed. Rosenblum, L. A., pp. 103–94. Academic Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Tiedens, L. Z. & Fragale, A. R. (2003) Power moves: Complementarity in dominant and submissive nonverbal behavior. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 84(3):558–68.Google Scholar
Van Hooff, J. A. R. A. M. (1967) The facial displays of the catarrhine monkeys and apes. In: Primate ethology, ed. Morris, D., pp. 768. Weidenfield & Nicolson.Google Scholar
Whalen, P. J. & Kleck, R. E. (2008) The shape of faces (to come). Nature Neuroscience 11(7):739–40.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed