ArticleScientific reports2021
Pictures of social interaction prompt a sustained increase of the smile expression and induce sociability.
Article in Scientific reports, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 4 papers.
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
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Who cites it
4 citing papers in PubMed.
- Spectator to a Meeting of Minds: Vicarious Eye Contact Elicits Psychophysiological Responses in the Observer.Psychophysiology · 2026Article
- The Psychosocial Impact on Gingival Aesthetics Questionnaire (PIGAQ): The Effect of Sociodemographic Variables on Results in a Spanish Adult Population. An Observational and Cross-Sectional Study.Journal of esthetic and restorative dentistry : official publication of the American Academy of Esthetic Dentistry ... [et al.] · 2025Observational
- High depressive symptomatology reduces emotional reactions to pictures of social interaction.Scientific reports · 2024Article
- Decreased self-reported receiving of social touch and social support predict loneliness in healthy adults.Psicologia, reflexao e critica : revista semestral do Departamento de Psicologia da UFRGS · 2022Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
7 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Viewing pictures of social interaction can facilitate approach behaviors. We conducted two studies to investigate if social interaction cues, empathy, and/or social touch modulate facial electromyographic (EMG) reactivity (as evidenced by the zygomaticus major and corrugator supercilii muscles) and mood states. We presented bonding pictures (depicting social interaction) and control pictures (without social interaction) while continuously recording zygomatic and corrugator EMG activities. In both studies, picture blocks were paired by valence and arousal. All participants were college students. In study 1, participants (n = 80, 47 women) read relevant priming texts immediately before viewing each block of 14 pictures. In study 2, participants did not read (n = 82, 63 women) priming texts before each block of 28 pictures. In study 1 and study 2, participants also completed mood states questionnaires to assess sociability and altruistic behavior. Empathy and social touch frequency were also assessed by self-reported questionnaires. In both studies, bonding pictures increased the zygomatic activity and the self-reported sociability feeling compared to control pictures. Only in study 2, bonding pictures decreased median corrugator activity compared to control pictures. We concluded that social interaction cues were efficient to increase sociability and prompt a sustained smile expression regardless of priming texts.
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Registered trials
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