Observed Emotional Expressions Alter Viewers’ Preferred Experiences: An EEG Investigation

Observed emotional expressions altered participants’ self-reported and EEG indices (lateralized hemispheric activity, alpha band 8-13 Hz) of motivations. In both positive and negative contexts, observations of anger-like expressions increased preferences for action experiences, and sadness-like expressions increased preferences for calming experiences. Both self-reports and EEG measures predicted such preferences.