HILLARY ANGER ELFENBEIN
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HILLARY ANGER ELFENBEIN |
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ASSISTANT PROFESSOR
HAAS SCHOOL OF BUSINESS
UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, BERKELEY
The best way to contact me is through email:
hillary@post.harvard.edu (lifetime-forwarding email address)
Mailing address:
Haas School of Business, F-586
University of California
Berkeley, CA 94720-1900
Phone number:
(510) 643-9700
At a broad level, my research interests involve emotion in the workplace, particularly individual and cross-cultural differences in the communication and regulation of emotion within organizations and person-environment fit particularly in terms of emotion.
Downloadable documents, including manuscript versions of published papers, appear below in pdf-format files. If you do not currently have Adobe Acrobat Reader installed to read pdf files, you can get a free copy at:
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Elfenbein, H. A., & Ambady, N. (2002a). On the
universality and cultural specificity of emotion recognition: A meta-analysis. Psychological
Bulletin,128, 203-235.
A meta-analysis examined emotion recognition within and across cultures. Emotions were universally recognized at better-than-chance levels. Accuracy was higher when emotions were both expressed and recognized by members of the same national, ethnic, or regional group, suggesting an in-group advantage. This advantage was smaller for cultural groups with greater exposure to one another, measured in terms of living in the same nation, physical proximity, and telephone communication. Majority group members were poorer at judging minority group members than the reverse. Cross-cultural accuracy was lower in studies that used a balanced research design, and higher in studies that used imitation rather than posed or spontaneous emotional expressions. Attributes of study design appeared not to moderate the size of the in-group advantage.
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Elfenbein, H. A., & Ambady, N. (2002b). Is there an ingroup advantage in emotion recognition? Psychological Bulletin,128, 243-249.
H. A. Elfenbein and N. Ambady (2002) examined the evidence for an in-group advantage in emotion recognition, whereby recognition is generally more accurate for perceivers from the same cultural group as emotional expressors. D. Matsumoto's (2002) comment centered on 3 asserted methodological requirements. This response addresses the lack of consensus concerning these "requirements" and demonstrates that none alter the presence of the in-group advantage. His analyses had a serious flaw and, once corrected, replicated the original findings. Furthermore, he described results from his empirical work not meeting a literal interpretation of his own requirements. Overall, where Matsumoto considers subtle cross-cultural differences in emotional expression a methodological artifact in judgment studies, the present authors find a core phenomenon worthy of attention.
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Elfenbein, H. A., & Ambady, N. (2002). Predicting workplace outcomes from the ability to eavesdrop on feelings. Journal of Applied Psychology, 87, 963-971.
Emotion recognition, one of the most reliably validated components within the construct of emotional intelligence, is a complicated skill. While emotion recognition skill is generally valued in the workplace, "eavesdropping", or, better recognition ability with emotions expressed through the less controllable "leaky" nonverbal channels, can have detrimental social and workplace consequences. In light of theory regarding positive emotion in organizations, as well as research on the consequences of perceiving negative information, we hypothesize and find an interaction between nonverbal channel and emotional valence. Workplace ratings from colleagues and superiors are higher for eavesdropping ability with positive emotion and lower for such ability with negative emotion. We discuss implications for the complexity of interventions associated with emotional intelligence in workplace settings.
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Elfenbein, H. A., Mandal, M. K., Ambady, N., Harizuka, S., & Kumar, S. (2002). Cross-cultural patterns in emotional communication: Highlighting design and analytical techniques. Emotion,2, 75-84.
This paper highlights a range of design and analytical tools for studying the cross-cultural communication of emotion using forced-choice experimental designs. Americans, Indians and Japanese judged facial expressions from all three cultures. We use a factorial experimental design, balanced n x n across cultures, to separate "absolute" cultural differences from "relational" effects characterizing the relationship between the emotion expressor and perceiver. We illustrate use of a response bias correction for the tendency to endorse particular multiple-choice categories more often than others. Treating response bias also as an opportunity to gain insight into attributional style, we examine similarities and differences in response patterns across cultural groups. Finally, we examine patterns in the errors or confusions that participants make during emotion recognition, and document strong similarity across cultures.
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Elfenbein, H. A., Marsh, A., & Ambady, N. (2002). Emotional Intelligence and the recognition of emotion from the face. In L. F. Barrett & P. Salovey (Eds.), The wisdom of feelings: Processes underlying emotional intelligence (pp. 37-59). New York: Guilford Press.
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Elfenbein, H. A., & Ambady, N. A. (2003). Cultural similarity’s consequences: A distance perspective on cross-cultural differences in emotion recognition. Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, 34, 92-110.
Previous research found null results examining predicted relationships between emotion recognition accuracy and Hofstede’s (2001) cultural dimensions. Prior theory was “static,” linking cultural profiles with absolute levels of emotion recognition accuracy. By contrast, a “distance” theory links cultural differences with the discrepancy in recognition accuracy achieved by members of the group posing versus the group recognizing the expressions, known as the in-group advantage (Elfenbein & Ambady, 2002). Re-analyzing data from four large-scale studies, and pooling results across studies for greater precision, we find no support for static hypotheses. Notably, no patterns differ across emotions, a central prediction by static theories focusing on decoding rules. However, analyses parsimoniously support the distance perspective. These findings add to expanding evidence for cultural differences in emotional communication.
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Elfenbein, H. A., & Ambady, N. (2003). Universals and cultural differences in recognizing emotions. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 12, 159-164.
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Elfenbein, H. A., & Ambady, N. (2003). When familiarity breeds accuracy: Cultural exposure and facial emotion recognition. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 85, 276-290.
Two studies provide evidence for the role of cultural familiarity in recognizing facial expressions of emotion. For Chinese located in China and the USA, Chinese Americans and non-Asian Americans, accuracy and speed in judging Chinese and American emotions was greater with greater participant exposure to the group posing the expressions. Likewise, Tibetans residing in China and Africans residing in the USA were faster and more accurate when judging emotions expressed by host versus non-host society members. These effects extended across generations of Chinese Americans, seemingly independent of ethnic or biological ties. Results suggest that the universal affect system governing emotional expression may be characterized by subtle differences in style across cultures, which become more familiar with greater cultural contact.
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Elfenbein, H. A., Mandal, M. K., Ambady, N., Harizuka, S., & Kumar, S. (2004). Hemifacial differences in the in-group advantage in emotion recognition. Cognition and Emotion, 18, 613-629.
Some researchers have interpreted findings of in-group advantage in emotion judgments as ethnic bias by perceivers. This study is the first linking in-group advantage to subtle differences in emotional expressions, using composites created with left and right facial hemispheres. Participants from the USA, India, and Japan judged facial expressions from all three cultures. As predicted, in-group advantage was greater for left than right hemifacial composites. Left composites were not universally more recognizable, but relatively more recognizable to in-group members only. There was greater pan-cultural agreement about the recognition levels of right hemifacial composites. This suggests the left facial hemisphere uses an expressive style less universal and more culturally specific than the right, and that bias alone does not cause the in-group advantage.
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Marsh, A. A., Elfenbein, H. A., & Ambady, N. (2003). Nonverbal
“accents”: Cultural differences in facial expressions of emotion. Psychological
Science, 14, 373-376.
We find evidence for subtle differences in the appearance of facial expressions of emotion across cultures, or nonverbal “accents.” Participants viewed photographs of Japanese nationals and Japanese Americans in Matsumoto and Ekman’s (1988) JACFEE and JACNeuF sets. These stimuli standardize posers’ muscle movements to eliminate differences in expressions, cultural or otherwise. Participants guessed the nationality of posers displaying emotional expressions at above-chance levels, with greater accuracy than when judging the same posers displaying neutral expressions. These findings indicate that facial expressions of emotion can contain nonverbal accents that identify the expressor’s nationality or culture. Cultural differences are intensified during the act of expressing emotion, rather than residing only in facial features or other static elements of appearance. This evidence suggests limitations to extreme positions on the universality of emotional expressions.
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Elfenbein, H. A., Foo, M. D., Boldry, J. G., & Tan, H. H. (2006). Dyadic effects in nonverbal communication: A variance partitioning analysis. Cognition and Emotion, 20, 149-159.
Using Kenny’s (1994) Social Relations Model, a block-round robin design provided the first reported evidence for dyadic effects in nonverbal communication. That is, some dyads were systematically more or less accurate than the individual-level skill of perceivers and expressors would predict. This dyadic effect appears to be similar in magnitude to individual differences in emotional perception, a topic garnering extensive research attention over several decades. Results generally replicated for judgments across genders and across two cultural groups. These preliminary findings have implications for research on emotional intelligence and other models of affective skill, raising the possibility that accuracy in nonverbal communication combines individual differences with factors beyond the individual level.
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Foo, M. D., Elfenbein, H. A., Tan, H. H., & Aik, V. C. (2004). Emotional Intelligence and negotiation: The tension between creating and claiming value. International Journal of Conflict Management, 15, 411-429.
As a departure from past research on emotional intelligence (EI), which generally examines the influence of an individual’s level of EI on that individual’s consequences, we examined relationships between the emotional intelligence (EI) of both members of dyads involved in a negotiation in order to explain objective and subjective outcomes. As expected, individuals high in EI reported a more positive experience. However, surprisingly, such individuals also achieved significantly lower objective scores than their counterparts. By contrast, having a partner high in EI predicted greater objective gain, and a more positive negotiating experience. Thus, high EI individuals appeared to benefit in affective terms, but appeared to create objective value that they were less able to claim. We discuss the tension between creating and claiming value, and implications for emotion in organizations.
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Curhan, J. R., Elfenbein, H. A., & Xu, H. (2005). What do people value when they negotiate? Mapping the domain of subjective value in negotiation. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. In press.
Four studies support the development and validation of a framework for understanding the range of social psychological outcomes valued subjectively as consequences of negotiations. Study 1 inductively elicited and coded elements of subjective value among students, community members, and practitioners, revealing 20 categories that theorists in Study 2 sorted into four underlying dimensions: Feelings about Instrumental Outcomes, the Self, Process, and Relationship. Study 3 proposed a new Subjective Value Inventory (SVI) and largely confirmed its 4-factor structure. Study 4 presents convergent, discriminant, and predictive validity data for this SVI. Indeed, subjective value was a better predictor than economic outcomes of future negotiation decisions. Results suggest the SVI is a promising tool to systematize and encourage research on subjective outcomes of negotiation.
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For more information about the SVI instrument, click on the link below:
Elfenbein, H. A., & O’Reilly, C. A. (2005). “Fitting In”: The effects of relational demography and person-organization fit on group process and performance. Group and Organization Management. In press.
We integrate two complementary streams of research on “fit” that document positive impacts of similarity and negative effects of dissimilarity. Fit with the organization’s culture typically focuses on similarity in values whereas relational demography examines similarity in demographic attributes. Although both emphasize fit and draw on similar underlying theories, little research investigates both simultaneously. In a field study with intact teams, both cultural and demographic fit had independent effects on subsequent performance; however, “deeper” value fit effects were stronger than “surface” demographic fit. Analyses by demographic group suggest that person-group fit has the greatest impact for individuals whose demographic background puts them at risk for poorer outcomes, particularly for socio-economic status.
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Elfenbein, H. A. (2006). Learning in emotion judgments: Training and the cross-cultural understanding of facial expressions. Journal of Nonverbal Behavior, 30, 21-36.
This preliminary study presents data on training to improve the accuracy of judging facial expressions of emotion, a core component of emotional intelligence. Feedback following judgments of angry, fearful, sad, and surprised states indicated the correct answers as well as difficulty level of stimuli. Improvement was greater for emotional expressions originating from a cultural group more distant from participants’ own family background, for which feedback likely provides greater novel information. Thus, the current study also provides suggestive evidence for cultural learning in emotion, for which previous research has been cross-sectional and subject to selection biases.
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Elfenbein, H. A. (2006). Team Emotional Intelligence: What it can mean and how it can impact performance. In V. Druskat, F. Sala, & G. Mount (Eds.), The link between emotional intelligence and effective performance (pp. 165-184). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
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Elfenbein, H. A., & Shirako, A. (2006). An emotion process model for multicultural teams. In B. Mannix, M. Neale, & Y. R. Chen (Eds.), Research on Managing Groups and Teams: National Culture and Groups (pp. 263-297). Amsterdam: Elsevier.
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Elfenbein, H. A., Beaupré, M. G., Lévesque, M. & Hess, U. (2007). Toward a dialect theory: Cultural differences in the expression and recognition of posed facial expressions. Emotion, 7, 131-146.
Two studies provided direct support for a recently proposed dialect theory of communicating emotion, positing that expressive displays show cultural variations similar to linguistic dialects, thereby decreasing accurate recognition by out-group members. In Study 1, 60 participants from Quebec and Gabon posed facial expressions. Dialects, in the form of activating different muscles for the same expressions, emerged most clearly for Serenity, Shame, and Contempt, also for Anger, Sadness, Surprise, and Happiness, but not for Fear, Disgust, or Embarrassment. In study 2, Quebecois and Gabonese judged these stimuli and stimuli standardized to erase cultural dialects. As predicted, an in-group advantage emerged for non-standardized expressions only, and most strongly for expressions with greater regional dialects according to Study 1.
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Elfenbein, H. A., Foo, M. D., White, J. B., Tan, H. H, & Aik, V. C. (2007). Reading your counterpart: The benefit of emotion recognition accuracy for effectiveness in negotiation Journal of Nonverbal Behavior. In press.
Using meta-analysis, we find a consistent positive correlation between emotion recognition accuracy (ERA) and goal-oriented performance. However, this existing research relies primarily on subjective perceptions of performance. The current study tested the impact of ERA on objective performance in a mixed-motive buyer-seller negotiation exercise. Greater recognition of posed facial expressions predicted better objective outcomes for participants from Singapore playing the role of seller, both in terms of creating value and claiming a greater share for themselves. The present study is distinct from past research on the effects of individual differences on negotiation outcomes in that it uses a performance-based test rather than self-reported measure. These results add to evidence for the predictive validity of emotion recognition measures on practical outcomes.
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Marsh, A. A., Elfenbein, H. A., & Ambady, N. (2007). Separated by a common language: Nonverbal accents and cultural stereotypes about Americans and Australians. Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology. In press.
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Elfenbein, H. A. (2007). Emotion in organizations: A review in stages. Forthcoming in A. Brief & J. Walsh (Eds.), Academy of Management Annals (Vol. 1.) Amsterdam: Elsevier.
Emotion has become one of the most popular - and popularized - areas within organizational scholarship. This chapter attempts to review and bring together within a single framework the wide and often disjointed literature on emotion in organizations. The integrated framework includes processes detailed by previous theorists who have defined emotion as a sequence that unfolds chronologically. The emotion process begins with a focal individual who is exposed to an eliciting stimulus, registers the stimulus for its meaning, and experiences a feeling state and physiological changes, with downstream consequences for attitudes, behaviors, and cognitions, as well as facial expressions and other emotionally expressive cues. These downstream consequences can result in externally visible behaviors and cues that become, in turn, eliciting stimuli for interaction partners. For each stage of the emotion process there are distinct emotion regulation processes, that incorporate individual differences and group norms and that can become automatic with practice. Although research often examines these stages in relative isolation from each other, I argue that each matters largely due to its interconnectedness with the other stages. Incorporating intra-individual, individual, interpersonal, and organizational levels of analysis, this framework can be a starting point to situate, theorize and test explicit mechanisms for the influence of emotion on organizational life.
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Elfenbein, H. A., Polzer, J. T., & Ambady, N. (2007). Team emotion recognition accuracy and team performance. Forthcoming in N. M. Ashkanasy, W. J. Zerbe, & C. E. J. Härtel (Eds.), Research on Emotions in Organizations (Vol. 3). Amsterdam: Elsevier.
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TeamEmotionRecognitionAccuracy
Working papers and Forthcoming Papers (Available by request)
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The subjective value project aims to answer the question: What do people
value when they negotiate?
Some people behave as though the most important aspect of a negotiation is the agreement reached, while others maintain that being liked or respected is another lofty goal. Curhan, Elfenbein, & Xu (2004) surveyed a broad spectrum of lay people, negotiation researchers, and negotiation practitioners about what they valued in a negotiation. Results suggested that negotiators tend to care about four basic domains – instrumental outcomes, the process, feelings about themselves, and feelings about their counterparts. Curhan et al.’s Subjective Value Inventory (SVI) helps negotiators learn to conceptualize their performance in a negotiation along multiple dimensions – dimensions that may constitute precursors to long-term negotiation value.
For more information about the Curhan, Elfenbein, & Xu (2006) Subjective Value Inventory, please click on the link below:
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