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Are there non-verbal signals of guilt?

Author

Listed:
  • Eglantine Julle-Danière
  • Jamie Whitehouse
  • Alexander Mielke
  • Aldert Vrij
  • Erik Gustafsson
  • Jérôme Micheletta
  • Bridget M Waller

Abstract

Guilt is a complex emotion with a potentially important social function of stimulating cooperative behaviours towards and from others, but whether the feeling of guilt is associated with a recognisable pattern of nonverbal behaviour is unknown. We examined the production and perception of guilt in two different studies, with a total of 238 participants with various places of origin. Guilt was induced experimentally, eliciting patterns of movement that were associated with both the participants’ self-reported feelings of guilt and judges’ impressions of their guilt. Guilt was most closely associated with frowning and neck touching. While there were differences between self-reported guilt and perception of guilt the findings suggest that there are consistent patterns that could be considered a non-verbal signal of guilt in humans.

Suggested Citation

  • Eglantine Julle-Danière & Jamie Whitehouse & Alexander Mielke & Aldert Vrij & Erik Gustafsson & Jérôme Micheletta & Bridget M Waller, 2020. "Are there non-verbal signals of guilt?," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 15(4), pages 1-27, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:plo:pone00:0231756
    DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0231756
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