%0 Journal Article
%T Face Value and Cheap Talk: How Smiles Can Increase or Decrease the Credibility of Our Words
%A Jessica D. Rambeas
%A Lawrence Ian Reed
%A Rachel Stratton
%J Evolutionary Psychology
%@ 1474-7049
%D 2018
%R 10.1177/1474704918814400
%X How do our facial expressions affect the credibility of our words? We test whether smiles, either uninhibited or inhibited, affect the credibility of a written statement. Participants viewed a confederate partner displaying a neutral expression, non-Duchenne smile, Duchenne smile, or controlled smile, paired with a written statement. Participants then made a behavioral decision based on how credible they perceived the confederate¡¯s statement to be. Compared to a neutral expression, Experiment 1 found that participants were more likely to believe the confederate¡¯s statement when it was paired with a deliberate Duchenne smile and less likely to believe the confederate¡¯s statement when it was paired with a deliberate controlled smile. Experiment 2 replicated these findings with spontaneously emitted expressions. These findings provide evidence that uninhibited facial expressions can increase the credibility accompanying statements, while inhibited ones can decrease credibility
%K facial expressions
%K smile
%K emotions
%K game theory
%K signaling
%U https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/1474704918814400