Smile and Punishment

Abstract

Are people who display a positive nonverbal expression treated more leniently after committing a transgression? The present study evaluated the effects of facial expression (positive vs. neutral), seriousness of transgression (serious vs. non-serious), sex of offender, and the decision-making unit (individuals vs. groups) on decisions about guilt, punishment, and the overall impressions formed of the target person. Subjects (N = 217) read descriptions of a severe or nonsevere transgression and were shown a photograph of the offender (male or female) displaying positive (smiling) or neutral nonverbal expression. They rated the target on 13 scales, and later they were asked to discuss the case as a group and to arrive at consensus judgments. Results showed that (a) smiling targets were treated more leniently, particularly when the transgression was a minor one, and (b) following a group discussion to consensus, judgments became more extreme than the initial individual judgments. These results are discussed in terms of their implications for nonverbal communication in real-life situations, and their relevance to current work on responsibility attribution and group-induced opinion shifts is considered.