About This Project

Facial expressions allow chimpanzees to communicate emotions with one another. When chimpanzees see a facial expression, they perform an interesting behaviour called facial mimicry. Facial mimicry is one of the most basic forms of emotional contagion, as the matching of facial expressions results in the matching of emotions. By understanding mimicry, we can aim to understand how emotions are experienced and shared in chimpanzees!

Ask the Scientists

What is the context of this research?

Emotional contagion and empathy are crucial mechanisms for successful social interactions among human and non-human primates. Non-verbal signals such as facial expressions play an important role in this, as mimicry of these expressions between interacting partners results in the matching of emotional states in those individuals. The behaviour of matching the facial expression, and consequently the emotions of another individual is called facial mimicry, act as social glue, enhancing group cohesiveness and belongingness when performed. Amongst chimpanzees, mimicry of smiles and laughter has been reported during interactions such as play, possibly resulting in positive emotional contagion.

What is the significance of this project?

As facial expressions are an essential component of communication for chimpanzees, they could be used to determine and assess how animals feel. Presently, thousands of chimpanzees are kept in captivity, and, despite efforts, abnormal behaviours indicative of serious distress prevail. This results in chimpanzees being aggressive towards themselves and others, and in injuries in zoos and other animal facilities. By attempting to understand how they communicate with us and each other, this research has the potential to provide new evidence that could be used to create more environmentally enriching experiences, better enclosures, and more positive human-animal interactions.

What are the goals of the project?

The aim of this research is to assess how chimpanzees experience and communicate emotional states with each other. Specifically, we will aim to determine which facial expressions are mimicked in interactions between chimpanzees, and the purpose of this mimicry. Because facial expressions and their mimicry create an emotional snowball effect, whereby the emotion of one individual can be passed onto another, we aim to determine the large scale impact that small interactions can have. That is, we aim to determine how positive or negative emotional expressions between two chimpanzees can impact the whole group emotional climate and dynamics. Additionally, we will study chimpanzees from infancy to adulthood to understand the development of emotional expression.