Fábio Pimenta de Pádua Júnior

What a smile means: contextual beliefs and facial emotion expressions in a non-verbal zero-sum game

Research into the authenticity of facial emotion expressions often focuses on the physical properties of the face while paying little attention to the role of beliefs in emotion perception. Further, the literature most often investigates how people express a pre-determined emotion rather than what facial emotion expressions people strategically choose to express. To fill these gaps, this paper proposes a non-verbal zero-sum game – the Face X Game – to assess the role of contextual beliefs and strategic displays of facial emotion expression in interpersonal interactions. This new research paradigm was used in a series of three studies, where two participants are asked to play the role of the sender (individual expressing emotional information on his/her face) or the observer (individual interpreting the meaning of that expression). Study 1 examines the outcome of the game with reference to the sex of the pair, where senders won more frequently when the pair was comprised of at least one female. Study 2 examines the strategic display of facial emotion expressions. The outcome of the game was again contingent upon the sex of the pair. Among female pairs, senders won the game more frequently, replicating the pattern of results from study 1. We also demonstrate that senders who strategically express an emotion incongruent with the valence of the event (e.g., smile after seeing a negative event) are able to mislead observers, who tend to hold a congruent belief about the meaning of the emotion expression. If sending an incongruent signal helps to explain why female senders win more frequently, it logically follows that female observers were more prone to hold a congruent, and therefore inaccurate, belief. This prospect implies that while female senders are willing and/or capable of displaying fake smiles, paired-female observers are not taking this into account. Study 3 investigates the role of contextual factors by manipulating female observers’ beliefs. When prompted to think in an incongruent manner, these observers significantly improve their performance in the game. These findings emphasize the role that contextual factors play in emotion perception—observers’ beliefs do indeed affect their judgments of facial emotion expressions.

A Influência da autorregulação nas heurísticas e vieses utilizados no processo de tomada de decisão [doi: 10.5329/RECADM.2014026]

Entre as diferentes teorias heuristicas que visam explicar o processo decisorio, este estudo explora a falacia do jogador e a teoria da mao-quente. O objetivo deste artigo e investigar a influencia da autorregulacao afetiva nas heuristicas e vieses utilizados no processo de tomada de decisao. Foram realizados dois experimentos. No primeiro, foi avaliado se os resultados anteriores de ganhos com acoes de empresas afetavam a preferencia dos consumidores pela compra ou venda dessas acoes. Constatou-se diferenca entre generos no processo decisorio, com a ocorrencia da falacia do jogador para a amostra masculina, mas nao para a amostra feminina. O segundo experimento foi realizado com o intuito de verificar o papel da autorregulacao nestas heuristicas. Apos a inducao de autorregulacao, observou-se a ocorrencia da falacia do jogador e o vies da mao quente em algumas condicoes, indicando alteracoes nas decisoes tomadas pelos consumidores. A partir desses resultados, conclui-se que ha uma influencia significativa do estado afetivo nas tomadas de decisao e que as mulheres sao menos suscetiveis a falacia do jogador do que os homens. Keywords Autorregulacao; tomada de decisao; falacia do jogador; teoria da mao quente. THE INFLUENCE OF SELF-REGULATION IN HEURISTICS AND BIASES USED IN CONSUMER DECISION MAKING RESUMO Among the different heuristics theories that attempt to explain the decision making process, this study explores the gamblers fallacy and the hot hand theory. This paper investigates the influence of self-regulation in heuristics and biases used during consumer decision making. Two experiments were conducted. The first one assessed if results of past performance of stocks affected consumer preference to buy or sell those stocks. Results indicated a significant difference between gender in decision making, with the occurrence of the gamblers fallacy for the male sample, but not for the female sample. The second experiment investigated the role of self-regulation in the gamblers fallacy and hot hand bias. Results showed that after the induction of self-regulation, it was noticed the gamblers fallacy and the hot hand theory in some conditions, indicating changes in the decisions made by consumers. We conclude that there is a significant influence of affective state in decision making and that women are less susceptible to the gamblers fallacy than men. Palavras-Chave Self-regulation; decision making; gambler’s fallacy; hot hand theory.

A Influência da autorregulação nas heurísticas e vieses utilizados no processo de tomada de decisão

Among the different heuristics theories that attempt to explain the decision making process, this study explores the gamblers fallacy and the hot hand theory. This paper investigates the influence of self-regulation in heuristics and biases used during consumer decision making. Two experiments were conducted. The first one assessed if results of past performance of stocks affected consumer preference to buy or sell those stocks. Results indicated a significant difference between gender in decision making, with the occurrence of the gamblers fallacy for the male sample, but not for the female sample. The second experiment investigated the role of self-regulation in the gamblers fallacy and hot hand bias. Results showed that after the induction of self-regulation, it was noticed the gamblers fallacy and the hot hand theory in some conditions, indicating changes in the decisions made by consumers. We conclude that there is a significant influence of affective state in decision making and that women are less susceptible to the gamblers fallacy than men.