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o   This hypothesis states that people's facial activity influences their affective response

o   Two possible mechanisms:

§  Cognitive: people make inferences about what they are feeling based on their facial expression

§  Physiological: the affective response can occur in the absence of cognitive interpretation

• Used a pen experiment in two studies to support FFH without cognition: Participants held a pen in their mouth in ways that either inhibited or facilitated the muscles typically associated with smiling without requiring participants to pose in a smiling face. The cover story was that the pen exercise was being tried for a future study of psychomotor coordination.
• Findings: 
  • Participants were more amused by cartoons when holding pen with teeth (i.e. smiling), and less amused when holding pen by lips. Control condition involved holding pen in non-dominant hand
  • Shown for amusement (affective) but not funniness (cognitive)
  • Did not work when pen was held only at time of making judgement; in fact, there was a contrast effect. So it was the experience of the emotional stimulus, and not just the cognitive judgement that was affected