Paul Ekman's Research Summary

This study is based on the premise that facial expressions are universal to all cultures. Paul Ekman, is the leading researcher in this field, and this article is based on his early work, designed to demonstrate the universal facial expressions that are used around the world. Originally, it was thought that facial expressions were based on culture but in earlier research some psychologists disagree with how the testing was conducted and the results, and stated that facial expressions were had a consistent meaning across all cultures. In the article, it stated that several years prior to the study conducted by Ekman, he conducted another study with another researcher named Wallace Friesen, where they showed photographs of all college educated people from five countries,

The researchers went about the testing process by showing each individual 3 pictures of different facial expressions and have them explain what it is that the person was feeling in the photograph. They compared these results to a control group of 23 adults who have been exposed to western civilization, and who were familiar with other cultures.

What Ekman’s research consisted of was true to his theory. Ekman is still very involved in his research in this specific area of psychology but other information that he found to support his theory is called the facial feedback theory of emotional expressions. This theory says that the expression that your face produces actually sends signals of information back to your brain to help you to clarify the emotions you are feeling at the given time. Ekman tested his theory by identifying which facial muscles are involved with each specific emotion, happy, sad, fear, anger, disgust, and