Abstract
Angry facial expressions are thought to serve as signals of social correction, indicating that one person disapproves of another’s behavior and wants them to desist. If individuals respond to such signals by inhibiting disapproved-of behaviors, they should effectively reduce the prevalence of angry and aggressive encounters in their lives. Two studies tested this idea by incorporating angry and neutral expressions within a task which measures behavioral-inhibition processes. Consistent with predictions, trait anger was related to response-inhibition processes for angry but not neutral expressions; such that low trait anger individuals exhibited faster response-inhibition processes in the angry context. This effect occurred when participants were explicitly instructed to inhibit behavior in response to facial expressions (Study 1) and when expressions were presented incidentally (Study 2). The findings could not be explained in terms of more general tendencies toward aggression or impulsivity or through perceptual processes.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
