| dc.description.abstract | The ability to determine what is a potential threat in our environment is even more important in the current world with terrorist attacks, mass shooters, unprovoked violence, serial offenders, and overall civil unrest. Humans have developed an evolutionary threat management system that allows for the prevention of harm. The threat management system is a biological, social and cognitive defense mechanism that allows for self-protection via the ability to detect a potential threat from the environment, whether that threat be a person, disease or animal (Neuberg et al., 2011). Facial expressions of imminent aggression, of premeditated aggression, disgust, and loss of control of aggression all elicit a threat response. This response is predicted to be a facial reaction in the form of a micro expression according to the guidelines of Facial Action Coding System (Ekman et. al., 2002). Participants were shown a series of pictures that fall under the four classifications of immanent aggression: premeditated, disgust, loss of control and other none threatening emotions. In order to correctly establish threat, participants received a cold pressor test in order to heighten the threat management system (Neuberg et al., 2011; Bublatzky & Schupp, 2011). By inducing mild pain with a cold-pressor test, the threat management system was activated, and micro expressions of threat detection, micro expressions of fear were not shown to correspond to given threatening images. Findings were not statistically significant, however there was an interaction between the conditions to missed threat detection. The ability to detect potential threats via facial expressions could aid in the prevention of terrorist attacks, and other violent crimes. | |
