Human psychophysiology is influenced by physical touch with a “breathing” robot
Research on how a robot’s breathing behavior shapes human physiological responses to touch.
The lab
We investigate how and why nonverbal behavior shapes social judgments and decision making.
What we study
Our research explores the fundamental building blocks of human communication by examining how nonverbal behaviors—particularly movements of the body, head, and face—communicate social rank, emotion, personality, and mental health.
Select publications
Our work has been published in journals including Nature Human Behaviour, Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, Psychological Science, Emotion, Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, and Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences: Nexus.
Research on how a robot’s breathing behavior shapes human physiological responses to touch.
How head tilt influences perceptions of dominance from a neutral face.
Prestige and dominance are associated with distinct nonverbal displays.
Smile variation can reveal personality and improve the accuracy of interpersonal judgments.
Evidence for cross-cultural and early-emerging recognition of distinct social-rank displays.
Scientific quality can only be assessed by the substance and contribution of the work, irrespective of how quickly it was completed.
Ongoing research
We study how expression and perception guide the way people understand one another—and how those judgments shape the social world.
We are developing novel, scalable, and automated techniques to measure variation in faces, to identify universal features guiding face perception.
We’re establishing posed smiles as a form of self-expression that, when posed, offer a valid window into well-being and personality.
We study how, why, and when nonverbal behavior enables people to influence others and ascend social hierarchies.
We study emotion expressions as fundamental features of human communication that generalize around the world and across the lifespan.
We study whether humans co-opt an innate association between geometric angularity and threat to communicate dominance and threat through facial expressions, body posture, and head position.
We examine factors influencing when and why dominance and prestige are effective strategies for influencing others and rising to power.
We study if and how the body is used to communicate emotion.
The lab
Join us
We are recruiting graduate students to join the lab beginning in Fall 2027. Priority will be given to applicants with a strong research record, interests in nonverbal communication, social perception, emotion, and/or leadership, and experience with or interest in using R.
Interested in working with NESP Lab?
After reviewing our research and publications, get in touch to discuss how your interests align with our ongoing work.
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