Social Context Modulates Facial Imitation of Children’s Emotional Expressions

Children use emotional facial expressions of others for guiding their behavior, a process which is important to a child’s social-emotional development. Earlier studies on facial interaction demonstrate that imitation of emotional expressions of others is automatic, yet can be dynamically modulated depending on contextual information. Considering the value of emotional expressions for children especially, we tested whether and to what extent information about children’s temperament and domestic situation alters mimicry of their emotional expressions. Results show that angry expressions of children displaying negative behavior resulted in stronger imitation, which may serve as a corrective signal. Sad facial expressions resulted in stronger imitation towards those behaving positively but only when exposed to a difficult domestic situation, indicating increased empathy towards these children. These findings shed new light on the dynamic implicit communicative processes that shape interaction with children of different social-emotional backgrounds.