Asymmetry of facial expression in spontaneous emotion.

The observation that emotional expressions are more intense on the left side of the face is consistent with other evidence of the importance of the right hemisphere in emotional communication. However, the question has been raised whether it is truly spontaneous emotional expressions or only posed facial displays that show a left-sided asymmetry. We surreptitiously examined facial asymmetry during spontaneous emotional expressions as subjects remembered happy or sad experiences. These were contrasted with the subjects' posed expressions of happy or sad emotions. Both of these procedures resulted in more intense expressions on the left side of the face. The left-sided advantage was stronger during the spontaneous than the posed displays, and was observed for both happy and sad emotions.