Research Interests
Reginald Adams is interested in how we extract social and emotional meaning
from nonverbal cues, particularly via the face. His work addresses how
multiple social messages (e.g., emotion, gender, race, age, etc.) combine
and interact to form unified representations that guide our impressions
of and responses to others. Of particular interest is the functional correspondence
between static and expressive cues; at a fundamental level both signal
basic intentions to approach-avoid, dominate, and/or affiliate. With this
in mind, his current work examines the influences of eye gaze, social
group memberships (e.g., gender and race), and facial appearance on the
way we process and perceive others’ mental and emotional states.
Although his questions are social psychological in origin, his research
draws upon visual cognition and affective neuroscience to address social
perception at the functional and neuroanatomical levels.
Recent Publications
Adams, R. B., Jr., & Kleck, R.E. (2003). Perceived gaze direction and the processing of facial displays of emotion. Psychological Science, 14, 644-647.
Adams, R. B., Jr., Gordon, H.L., Baird, A.A., Ambady, N., & Kleck, R.E. (2003). Effects of gaze on amygdala sensitivity to anger and fear faces. Science, 300, 1536.
Adams, R. B., Jr., Hess, U., Kleck, R.E.. & Wallbott, H. (2004). The influence of perceived gender on the perception of emotional dispositions. In A. Kappas (Ed.), Proceedings of the XIth Conference of the International Society for Research on Emotions, 16-20, August 2000, Quebec City (pp. 17-19). Amsterdam: ISRE publications/University of Amsterdam.
Hess, U., Adams, R. B., Jr., & Kleck, R.E. (2004). Dominance, gender and emotion expression. Emotion, 4, 378-388.
Marsh, A. A., Adams, R. B., Jr., & Kleck, R.E. (2005). Why do fear and anger look the way they do? Form and social function in facial expressions. Personality and Social Psychological Bulletin, 31, 73-86.
Adams, R. B., Jr., & Kleck, R.E. (2005). The effects of direct and averted gaze on the perception of facially communicated emotion. Emotion, 5, 3-11.
Hess, U., Adams, R. B., Jr., & Kleck, R.E. (2005). Who may frown
and who should smile? Dominance, affiliation, and the display of happiness
and anger. Cognition & Emotion, 19, 515-536.
