Evidence map›Paper›PMID 40926560›Full record

ArticlePsychophysiology2025

Communicative Social Intentions Modulate Emotional Mimicry Responses.

Leon O H Kroczek, Silke Frank, Uta Gold, Fridolin Hesse, Selina Hettenkofer, Nadja Peterreins, Lorenz Teutsch, Valerie Theophile, Andreas Mühlberger

Abstract read
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in Psychophysiology, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
1citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

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.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

1 citing paper in PubMed.

  1. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

9 authors.

Leon O H KroczekDepartment of Psychology, Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy, University of Regensburg, Regensburg, Germany.ORCID 0000-0002-5588-5067
Silke FrankDepartment of Psychology, Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy, University of Regensburg, Regensburg, Germany.
Uta GoldDepartment of Psychology, Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy, University of Regensburg, Regensburg, Germany.
Fridolin HesseDepartment of Psychology, Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy, University of Regensburg, Regensburg, Germany.
Selina HettenkoferDepartment of Psychology, Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy, University of Regensburg, Regensburg, Germany.
Nadja PeterreinsDepartment of Psychology, Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy, University of Regensburg, Regensburg, Germany.
Lorenz TeutschDepartment of Psychology, Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy, University of Regensburg, Regensburg, Germany.
Valerie TheophileDepartment of Psychology, Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy, University of Regensburg, Regensburg, Germany.
Andreas MühlbergerDepartment of Psychology, Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy, University of Regensburg, Regensburg, Germany.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Facial emotional expressions are interactive signals that communicate intentions. Previous research has shown that sending a facial emotional expression influences the evaluation of response expressions, but the mechanisms behind this effect remain unclear. In a preregistered experiment, 68 participants were asked to send an emoji (happy, neutral, and angry) to a virtual agent in front of them, whereupon the agent reacted with either a smiling or frowning facial expression. Valence and arousal ratings were obtained and mimicry responses to the agent's expression were measured via facial EMG of the Zygomaticus and Corrugator muscles. The results show that being smiled at is more pleasant and elicits greater Zygomaticus activation when the smile is received as a response to a happy emoji compared to an angry emoji. In contrast, being frowned at is less pleasant and increases Corrugator activity when the angry expression is received as a response to a happy emoji compared to an angry emoji. Finally, we found that sending an emoji resulted in activation of facial muscles corresponding to the valence of the emoji. The results support the role of affiliative mechanisms in the exchange of facial expressions but also demonstrate that persons are sensitive to the congruency between emotional signals of sender and receiver. These effects might be driven by physiological feedback. By implementing digital emotional expressions, the present study dissects the communicative act from the motor display of a facial expression and thus allows us to probe mechanisms behind social interactions in real and digital worlds.

Indexed as

CommunicationEmotionsFacial ExpressionFacial MusclesIntentionSocial PerceptionAdultElectromyographyFemaleHumansMaleYoung Adultdigital communicationEMGemoticonsemotionpsychophysiologysocial interactionvirtual agents

Identifiers

PMID40926560
PMCPMC12421215

What OpenQuestion holds

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Registered trials

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.