Nonverbal Expression & Social Perception Lab

Texas A&M University

Discovering fundamental building blocks of human expression and perception

We form judgments about people based on their nonverbal behavior, and rely on those judgments to guide our own behavior and decision-making; who to approach, follow, fear, avoid, learn from, and select into positions of power. Our lab investigates the critical—yet often underestimated—role of nonverbal behavior in shaping social judgments, along with their downstream consequences.

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Research

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, including around the world and across the lifespan.

Infographic displaying facial analysis data, including facial width-to-height ratio, telecanthus/hypotelorism, lip volume, jaw squareness, eyebrow angle, nose angle, and nose width-to-height ratio, with images of different individuals showing facial measurements and expressions.

Publications

Our research has been cited around the world, and published in journals including Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, Psychological Science, Emotion, Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, and PNAS Nexus.

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People

We are a collaborative team working together to make this research possible. Meet the people who make it happen.

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Join us

We are currently recruiting graduate students interested in pursuing their PhD, and undergraduate students looking to get involved in our research.