The facial expressions of a kombucha drinking social media poster might not be a national headline, but they serve a great example for learning about facial expressions. As the New York Times reports, an online video by Brittany Tomlinson went viral after she showed a wide range of emotions upon trying some kombucha. In the…
Read MoreHow can smiling boost one’s mood?
In the video below, Dr. Matsumoto chose to address a question submitted to us for National Smile Month: How can smiling boost one’s mood? This is actually true, and smiling helps boost our mood by interfacing with central physical and emotional processes in our brain. Dr. Matsumoto describes these emotional processes as sort of a…
Read MoreEmotions: What are Their Functions?
Emotions are surely important in our lives, but it is amazing to see just how foundational they really are in how we experience the world. Humintell’s own Drs. David Matsumoto and Hyisung Hwang put together a comprehensive book chapter exploring that very question. They emphasize the crucial role that emotions have in intrapersonal, interpersonal, and…
Read MoreNonverbal Behavior in Close Relationships
We keep talking about nonverbal behavior with strangers, but what role does it have in close interpersonal contexts? There is plenty of reason to think that this is important! We pick up on our romantic partner’s nonverbal behavior, even if we don’t realize that we are doing it. In a recent paper, a team of…
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