Understanding Happiness: How Self-Esteem Moderates the Effect of Facial Expressions

Introduction

Body language, including facial expressions, is oftentimes the very first thing that people use to make judgments about others (Zloteanu et al., 2021). As they get to know each other, this continues to hold true. People begin to learn facial expressions as a language, using it to help gauge the meaning behind tone and words (Tipper et al., 2015). This fact remains true even for oneself and one’s own facial expressions, although this learning happens unconsciously.

Primary Independent Variable

Facial Expression

Participants were exposed to two levels of facial expression conditions, the Duchenne Smile and a neutral facial expression. The Duchenne Smile was selected due to the brain’s when a person smiles in a way that causes the corners of the mouth to be raised and crow’s feet around the eyes to form, as opposed to a neutral expression where there is no movement. This variable was randomly assigned to participants and was controlled by showing standardized photographs depicting these expressions.

Moderating Independent Variable

Self-Esteem

Self-Esteem refers to an individual’s overall sense of self-worth or personal value. It reflects a person’s attitude towards themselves and their perceived competence and self-respect. Of the images depicting the two different facial expression conditions, researchers randomly assigned each condition a level of self-esteem (high or low). As participants were presented with the image of a facial expression condition, they were also presented with a statement that assigned a self-esteem level to the provided image.

Dependent Variable

Happiness

Happiness is a positive emotional state characterized by feelings of joy, contentment, and well-being. In the context of this study, we examined happiness as a state, meaning short-term happiness. The happiness of the participants was evaluated after they were exposed to a facial expression condition and the corresponding self-esteem condition. It was evaluated using a self-report questionnaire that consisted of six questions and four responses choices. Each response choice had an assigned value.

Hypothesis

Researchers conducting the present study hypothesize that among participants in the high self-esteem Duchenne smile condition, they will show a higher level of happiness than those in the neutral facial expression condition. Further, participants in the low self-esteem condition will have no difference in happiness in either the Duchenne smile or neutral expression conditions.

Results

In order to examine the impact of perceived self-esteem and facial expression on happiness, we conducted a 2 (Self-esteem: High vs. Low) x 2 (Facial Expression: Duchenne smile vs. neutral expression) ANOVA.

  • The main effect of self-esteem was not significant, F (1, 22) = 1.87, p = .18.

  • Participants in the high self-esteem condition (M = 4.3, SD = 0.8) did not have higher levels of happiness compared to participants in the low self-esteem condition (M = 4.2, SD = 0.9).

Results (cont.)

  • The main effect of facial expression was also not significant, F (1, 22) = 2.34, p = .14. 

  • Participants in the Duchenne smile conditions (M = 4.2, SD = 0.7) did not have higher levels of happiness when compared to the participants in the neutral expression conditions (M = 4.1, SD = 1.0).

  • The interaction between self-esteem and facial expression was significant, F (1, 22) = 4.56, p = .04.

Results (cont.)

  • Among participants in the Duchenne smile conditions, high self-esteem (M = 4.4, SD = 0.6) was related to higher levels of happiness than low self-esteem (M = 4.3, SD = 0.8), F (1, 22) = 4.89, p = .03. 

  • Among participants in the neutral expression conditions, low self-esteem (M = 4.0, SD = 0.9) was related to lower happiness levels than high self-esteem (M = 4.2, SD = 0.7), F (1, 22) = 4.32, p = .04.

Results (cont.)

Mean values of all independent variable conditions.

Discussion

The strengths of this study are the internal and construct validity. The limitations are external validity due to the limited participant pool, time constraints, reliance on self-reported messages, and the manufactured aspect of the study. The future implications for this research is that the findings can inform strategies to enhance mood and emotional resilience. The impact of self-esteem could be much broader than researchers realize and could severely impact the results.

Take Home Message

This field of research has a long way to go before it yields valuable results.