Social motives, emotional feelings, and smiling

Previous research has established that the facial displays of those who lis ten to stories are influenced by the social context in which this happens. However, experienced affect was not measured in these studies, and the stor y stimuli were not systematically manipulated. We report a study in which p articipants listened to stories that varied in rated funniness, and that we re told by either a friend or a stranger via one of the following channels: Tape recorder, telephone, or face-to-face. Dependent measures included fac ial activity, subjective feelings, and social motives. We anticipated that facial displays would be influenced by story type and by social context, an d that the former effects would be mediated by experienced affect, whereas the latter effects would be mediated by social motives. The funnier story e licited more smiling, but this was not mediated by experienced affect. Soci al context also influenced smiling, and this effect appeared to be mediated by social motives.