Emotions in the social world: recognition, expression, and alignment across the lifespan

Abstract

Emotions form a fundamental part of daily social life, shaping how individuals interact, communicate, and make decisions. This holds true not only for humans but also for many nonhuman animals. In this dissertation, I examine how emotions are recognized, expressed, and contribute to social decision-making across diverse developmental, cultural, and species contexts. The dissertation begins with an overview of contemporary theories on the nature and development of emotions, focusing on their three primary components: behavior, physiology, and subjective experience. I discuss how these components interact and how emotions emerge and evolve over time. Next, I explore how emotional expressions and recognition are shaped by both developmental trajectories and cultural environments, drawing from cross-cultural and developmental data. In subsequent chapters, I investigate how emotions influence daily social interactions, particularly in contexts requiring trust, cooperation, and communication. I also integrate evidence from comparative studies with nonhuman animals to understand the evolutionary roots and social functions of emotional expression and mimicry. Finally, I situate the findings within the broader literature on emotion science, highlighting the critical social role emotions play in facilitating adaptive interpersonal and intrapersonal functioning. The dissertation contributes to a growing understanding of emotions as dynamic, socially embedded processes across age, culture, and species.