The Psychology of Facial Expression

This reference work provides broad and up-to-date coverage of the major perspectives – ethological, neurobehavioral, developmental, dynamic systems, componential – on facial expression. It reviews Darwin’s legacy in the theories of Izard and Tomkins and in Fridlund’s recently proposed Behavioral Ecology theory.

It explores continuing controversies on universality and innateness. It also updates the research guidelines of Ekman, Friesen and Ellsworth. This book anticipates emerging research questions: what is the role of culture in children’s understanding of faces? In what precise ways do faces depend on the immediate context? What is the ecology of facial expression: when do different expressions occur and in what frequency?

The Psychology of Facial Expressions is aimed at students, researchers and educators in psychology anthropology, and sociology who are interested in the emotive and communicative uses of facial expression.