AUTHOR=Marici Marius , Iosim Iasmina , Marin Cornelia Diana 

TITLE=The role of teachers' emotional facial expressions on student perceptions and engagement for primary school students-an experimental investigation

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Psychology

VOLUME=Volume 16 - 2025

YEAR=2025

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/psychology/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2025.1613073

DOI=10.3389/fpsyg.2025.1613073

ISSN=1664-1078

ABSTRACT=IntroductionThis study aimed to investigate the impact of teachers' facial emotional displays (joy, neutrality, anger, and fear) on students' perceptions, compliance, and motivation.MethodsUsing an experimental design, data were collected from 121 students, aged 912, (M = 10.3, SD = 0.78), from schools in Suceava, Romania. Participants were exposed to vignettes featuring teachers displaying different emotional expressions, and they completed questionnaires to assess their responses.ResultsThe intergroup comparisons revealed that joy had the most significant positive impact on students' willingness to participate, respect for the teacher, and overall enjoyment, while fear and anger led to negative outcomes.DiscussionThe findings encourage the positive emotional expressions in fostering better student-teacher relationships and improving classroom engagement.