Slide
Centre Interdisciplinaire
de Recherche et d’Innovation
en Cybersécurité et Société
de Recherche et d’Innovation
en Cybersécurité et Société
1.
Richer, A.; Gingras, F.; Plouffe-Demers, M. -P.; Fiset, D.; Blais, C.
Is It Pain, Anger, Disgust, or Sadness? Individual Differences in Expectations of Pain Facial Expressions Journal Article
In: Emotion, 2025, ISSN: 15283542 (ISSN), (Publisher: American Psychological Association).
Abstract | Links | BibTeX | Tags: facial expressions confusion, Individual differences, mental representation, pain facial expression, Reverse correlation
@article{richer_is_2025,
title = {Is It Pain, Anger, Disgust, or Sadness? Individual Differences in Expectations of Pain Facial Expressions},
author = {A. Richer and F. Gingras and M. -P. Plouffe-Demers and D. Fiset and C. Blais},
url = {https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-105002303060&doi=10.1037%2femo0001516&partnerID=40&md5=3f1a8aa2bb0a38679b6fe7d354b216a2},
doi = {10.1037/emo0001516},
issn = {15283542 (ISSN)},
year = {2025},
date = {2025-01-01},
journal = {Emotion},
abstract = {Humans rely on facial expressions to assess others’ affective states. However, pain facial expressions are poorly recognized and are often confused with other negative affective states, such as anger, disgust, sadness, and fear. Previous research has shown that individuals’ expectations about the appearance of pain facial expressions are not optimal and do not perfectly reflect the facial features typically observed in individuals expressing pain. In the present study, we verified if expectations about pain facial expressions are also suboptimal by overlapping with other affective states. We relied on two published data sets (data collected between 2017 and 2020) containing images representing the expectations of the appearance of pain facial expressions according to 162 White participants. We then asked an independent group of White participants (N = 60, 30 women},
note = {Publisher: American Psychological Association},
keywords = {facial expressions confusion, Individual differences, mental representation, pain facial expression, Reverse correlation},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {article}
}
Humans rely on facial expressions to assess others’ affective states. However, pain facial expressions are poorly recognized and are often confused with other negative affective states, such as anger, disgust, sadness, and fear. Previous research has shown that individuals’ expectations about the appearance of pain facial expressions are not optimal and do not perfectly reflect the facial features typically observed in individuals expressing pain. In the present study, we verified if expectations about pain facial expressions are also suboptimal by overlapping with other affective states. We relied on two published data sets (data collected between 2017 and 2020) containing images representing the expectations of the appearance of pain facial expressions according to 162 White participants. We then asked an independent group of White participants (N = 60, 30 women
2.
Lévesque-Lacasse, A.; Desjardins, M. -C.; Fiset, D.; Charbonneau, C.; Cormier, S.; Blais, C.
In: Journal of Pain, vol. 25, no. 1, pp. 250–264, 2024, ISSN: 15265900, (Publisher: Elsevier B.V.).
Abstract | Links | BibTeX | Tags: anger, article, chronic pain, disgust, emotion, Emotions, Empathy, Estimation bias, expectation, eyebrow, Facial Expression, Facial expressions of pain, human, Humans, mental representation, Mental representations, motivation, Pain, pain assessment, psychology, questionnaire, reliability, reproducibility, Reproducibility of Results, Reverse correlation, sadness, sensitivity, vision, Visual Perception
@article{levesque-lacasse_relationship_2024,
title = {The Relationship Between the Ability to Infer Another's Pain and the Expectations Regarding the Appearance of Pain Facial Expressions: Investigation of the Role of Visual Perception},
author = {A. Lévesque-Lacasse and M. -C. Desjardins and D. Fiset and C. Charbonneau and S. Cormier and C. Blais},
url = {https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-85171357836&doi=10.1016%2fj.jpain.2023.08.007&partnerID=40&md5=dcfeb2e0eb9f13b42122ddfcbc987fc0},
doi = {10.1016/j.jpain.2023.08.007},
issn = {15265900},
year = {2024},
date = {2024-01-01},
journal = {Journal of Pain},
volume = {25},
number = {1},
pages = {250–264},
abstract = {Although pain is a commonly experienced and observed affective state, it is frequently misinterpreted, which leads to inadequate caregiving. Studies show the ability at estimating pain in others (estimation bias) and detecting its subtle variations (sensitivity) could emerge from independent mechanisms. While estimation bias is modulated by variables such as empathy level, pain catastrophizing tendency, and overexposure to pain, sensitivity remains unimpacted. The present study verifies if these 2 types of inaccuracies are partly explained by perceptual factors. Using reverse correlation, we measured their association with participants' mental representation of pain, or more simply put, with their expectations of what the face of a person in pain should look like. Experiment 1 shows that both parameters are associated with variations in expectations of this expression. More specifically, the estimation bias is linked with expectations characterized by salient changes in the middle face region, whereas sensitivity is associated with salient changes in the eyebrow region. Experiment 2 reveals that bias and sensitivity yield differences in emotional representations. Expectations of individuals with a lower underestimation tendency are qualitatively rated as expressing more pain and sadness, and those of individuals with a higher level of sensitivity as expressing more pain, anger, and disgust. Together, these results provide evidence for a perceptual contribution in pain inferencing that is independent of other psychosocial variables and its link to observers’ expectations. Perspective: This article reinforces the contribution of perceptual mechanisms in pain assessment. Moreover, strategies aimed to improve the reliability of individuals’ expectations regarding the appearance of facial expressions of pain could potentially be developed, and contribute to decrease inaccuracies found in pain assessment and the confusion between pain and other affective states. © 2023 United States Association for the Study of Pain, Inc.},
note = {Publisher: Elsevier B.V.},
keywords = {anger, article, chronic pain, disgust, emotion, Emotions, Empathy, Estimation bias, expectation, eyebrow, Facial Expression, Facial expressions of pain, human, Humans, mental representation, Mental representations, motivation, Pain, pain assessment, psychology, questionnaire, reliability, reproducibility, Reproducibility of Results, Reverse correlation, sadness, sensitivity, vision, Visual Perception},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {article}
}
Although pain is a commonly experienced and observed affective state, it is frequently misinterpreted, which leads to inadequate caregiving. Studies show the ability at estimating pain in others (estimation bias) and detecting its subtle variations (sensitivity) could emerge from independent mechanisms. While estimation bias is modulated by variables such as empathy level, pain catastrophizing tendency, and overexposure to pain, sensitivity remains unimpacted. The present study verifies if these 2 types of inaccuracies are partly explained by perceptual factors. Using reverse correlation, we measured their association with participants' mental representation of pain, or more simply put, with their expectations of what the face of a person in pain should look like. Experiment 1 shows that both parameters are associated with variations in expectations of this expression. More specifically, the estimation bias is linked with expectations characterized by salient changes in the middle face region, whereas sensitivity is associated with salient changes in the eyebrow region. Experiment 2 reveals that bias and sensitivity yield differences in emotional representations. Expectations of individuals with a lower underestimation tendency are qualitatively rated as expressing more pain and sadness, and those of individuals with a higher level of sensitivity as expressing more pain, anger, and disgust. Together, these results provide evidence for a perceptual contribution in pain inferencing that is independent of other psychosocial variables and its link to observers’ expectations. Perspective: This article reinforces the contribution of perceptual mechanisms in pain assessment. Moreover, strategies aimed to improve the reliability of individuals’ expectations regarding the appearance of facial expressions of pain could potentially be developed, and contribute to decrease inaccuracies found in pain assessment and the confusion between pain and other affective states. © 2023 United States Association for the Study of Pain, Inc.