Abstract
This study measured emotion expressed in behaviors to ascertain the effects of expressive suppression and exaggeration in a dyadic conversation on interpersonal communication. Twenty-seven female participants were instructed to watch a film eliciting negative emotions, with a female collaborator on regulator of the experiment. After watching the film, they were asked to engage in a conversation about the film with the regulator, who suppressed or exaggerated her facial expressions during the conversation. The recipients of exaggerated expressions expressed positive emotion more, especially while the regulator was talking, and the proportion of their speaking time increased in the second half of the conversation, as compared to the recipients of suppressed expressions. These results suggest that suppression and exaggeration of facial expressions in communication play an influential role in recipients' expressive behaviors. Measurements of expressive behaviors could serve as important indicators to elucidate emotion regulation in communication.
