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HYPOTHESIS AND THEORY article

Front. Psychol.
Sec. Theoretical and Philosophical Psychology
Volume 15 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2024.1356237

Facial Icons as Indexes of Emotions and Intentions

Provisionally accepted
Amel Achour-Benallegue Amel Achour-Benallegue 1*Jérôme Pelletier Jérôme Pelletier 2,3,4Gwenaël Kaminski Gwenaël Kaminski 5,6Hideaki Kawabata Hideaki Kawabata 7
  • 1 Human Augmentation Research Center, National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST), Chiba, Japan
  • 2 UMR8129 Institut Jean Nicod, Paris, Île-de-France, France
  • 3 Département d'Etudes Cognitive, ENS, Paris, France
  • 4 Université de Bretagne Occidentale, Brest, Brittany, France
  • 5 UMR5263 Cognition, Langues, Langage, Ergonomie (CLLE), Toulouse, Midi-Pyrénées, France
  • 6 Institut Universitaire de France, Paris, France
  • 7 Department of Psychology, Faculty of Letters, Keio University, Tokyo, Japan

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Various objects and artifacts incorporate representations of faces, encompassing artworks like portraits, as well as ethnographic or industrial artifacts such as masks or humanoid robots. These representations exhibit diverse degrees of human-likeness, serving different functions and objectives. Despite these variations, they share common features, particularly facial attributes that serve as building blocks for facial expressionsan effective means of communicating emotions. To provide a unified conceptualization for this broad spectrum of face representations, we propose the term "facial icons" drawing upon Peirce's semiotic concepts. Additionally, based on these semiotic principles, we posit that facial icons function as indexes of emotions and intentions, and introduce a significant anthropological theory aligning with our proposition. Subsequently, we support our assertions by examining processes related to face and facial expression perception, as well as sensorimotor simulation processes involved in discerning others' mental states, including emotions. Our argumentation integrates cognitive and experimental evidence, reinforcing the pivotal role of facial icons in conveying mental states."A face is a center of human expression, the transparent envelope of the attitudes and desires of others, the place of manifestation, the barely material support for a multitude of intentions.

    Keywords: embodied emotion, emotional contagion, Facial mimicry, Theory of Mind, Facial icons, face representations, Art agency, Art perception

    Received: 15 Dec 2023; Accepted: 02 Apr 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Achour-Benallegue, Pelletier, Kaminski and Kawabata. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Amel Achour-Benallegue, Human Augmentation Research Center, National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST), Chiba, 277-0882, Japan

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.