One of the most recognizable facial expressions is disgust: the expression displayed by an individual who is exposed to a nauseating image or horrifying story. But what happens when this emotion is not expressed?
When the person keeps a straight face - either intentionally or unintentionally - and pretends that nothing is wrong? As Judith Grob discovered, such people experience more negative emotions. 'They look at the world with negative eyes because they cannot get rid of their feelings of disgust by expressing them. A botox treatment also has an effect on emotional experience, therefore, and not on wrinkles alone'. Grob will receive her PhD on 19 March 2009 at the University of Groningen.
It is not always advisable to give free rein to one's emotions. A laughing fit during a funeral is regarded as highly inappropriate, as is a loud quarrel in a restaurant. In such situations, it is wise to regulate one's emotions, the more so because this is socially desirable. But it is not sensible to suppress feelings habitually, says Grob: 'Previous research had already revealed that people who often suppress their emotions tend to be less healthy'.
Suppression
The suppression of disgust in particular has negative consequences, Grob discovered, even in people who are not aware that they are no longer capable of expressing it 'because their facial muscles have been paralysed by a botox treatment, for example'. People who express their disgust feel this emotion more intensely for a short period and then think a lot about related subjects. 'However', says Grob, 'when they find themselves in a new situation, the feeling has completely disappeared. This means that they are no longer bothered by it'.
Forbidden thought