Evidence for Individual-Specific Expressions of Frustration

Abstract

Aim: Emotion theories differ in viewpoints concenerning the extent and reasons of variation in expression of emotion. Previous studies have found evidence for family-specific expressions, individual-specific showing of certain expressions, and personality-typical frequency of showing expressions. However, little research has studied individual-specific ways of expressing an emotion. Therefore, the present study aims to show that a part of variance in emotion expression can be accounted for by individual-specific ways of showing an emotion. Frustration was used as model emotion because of its relevance to motivation and action in human-machine interaction, learning applications, or medical assistance. Mitigating undesired effects caused by frustration can be greatly supported based on robust recognition of frustration, which can only be achieved once the relationship between frustration and its expression is understood. Method: In a driving simulator study (50 participants) and a real-world driving study (20 participants), participants experienced several frustrating situations. Camera recordings were used to capture and classify their facial and bodily expressions. After completion of the simulator study, participants gave a continuous post-hoc frustration rating for every drive. Their facial and bodily expressions were hand-coded by three independent raters. Results: Previously described frustration-typical expressions could be replicated in this study. In addition, we find that every participant shows a per-individual-consistent set of expressions of frustration. Comparison of multilevel models shows that a model that includes expression per person predicts expression frequency significantly better than a model that only includes the expression. We therefore conclude that a part of variance in expression of frustration can be explained by individual-specificity of the same.