In psychology, affect display or affective display is a subject's externally displayed affect. The display can be by facial, vocal, or gestural means (APA 2006, p. 26). When displayed affect is different from the subjective affect, it is incongruent affect. Some professionals use the term "affect" to mean "affect display".
Affect display refers to the impetus for observable expression of emotion; for the human being that expression or feeling displayed to others through facial expressions, hand gestures, tone of voice and other emotional signs such as laughter or tears is a part of a series of non-conscious or conscious cognitive events. Many aspects of the expressions vary between and within cultures and are displayed in various forms ranging from the most discreet of facial expressions to the most dramatic and prolific gestures (Batson, 1992).
Affect display is also a critical facet of communication in the social domain. Interpersonal communication is colored by displayed affect and there are various theories on affective reactions to stimuli to include conscious and non-conscious reaction and positive or negative affect.
Read more about Affect Display: Theoretical Perspective, Non-conscious Affect and Perception, Arousal, Affect and Mood, Gender and Affective Displays, Affect and The Present Moment, Meanings in Art, Conclusion
Famous quotes containing the words affect and/or display:
“I affect no contempt for the high eminence he [Senator Stephen Douglas] has reached. So reached, that the oppressed of my species, might have shared with me in the elevation, I would rather stand on that eminence, than wear the richest crown that ever pressed a monarch’s brow.”
—Abraham Lincoln (1809–1865)
“You gave him an opportunity to display greatness of character, and he let it slip away. For that he will never forgive you.”
—Friedrich Nietzsche (1844–1900)