Are spontaneous expressions and emotions linked? An experimental test of coherence

We measured facial behaviors shown by participants in a laboratory study in which a film was used to elicit intense emotions. Participants provided subjective reports of their emotions and their faces were recorded by a concealed camera. We did not find the coherence claimed by other authors (e.g., Rosenberg & Ekman, 1994) between the displayed facial expressions and subjective reports of emotion. We thus concluded that certain emotions are not a necessary or sufficient precondition of certain spontaneous expressions.