The victory stance that many athletes take immediately after a win has been found to be a universal gesture for triumph which is the same across cultures.

These new findings purport that triumph is a universal gesture seen in the “victory” stance of an athlete.  The idea of triumph being a universal emotion had its beginnings in Dr.  David Matsumoto’s 2008 study of Olympic athletes, which suggested that expressions of pride and shame are universal and hardwired in humans.

According to PHYS.Org, these new findings due to be published in the journal Evolution and Human Behavior suggest the victory pose signals feelings of triumph, challenging previous research that labeled the expression pride.

 “We found that displays of triumph include different behaviors to those of pride and occur more immediately after a victory or win.  Triumph has its own signature expression that is immediate, automatic and universal across cultures, “ stated Dr. David Matsumoto, professor of psychology at San Francisco State University.

In the new study, which Dr. Matsumoto co-authored with Humintell’s research scientist Dr. Hyi Sung Hwang, they investigated gestures labeled pride and triumph further and noted that gestures previously thought to be pride are more indicative of  a separate  emotion – triumph.  “When we studied pride, there was always something gnawing at me because some of the expressions that were previously labeled pride just didn’t make that much sense to me.”

Their findings suggest not only that triumph is an emotion on its own but that it is a universal emotion as well meaning that it is displayed the same way across cultures.   Dr. Matsumoto goes on to say that expressions of triumph are a declaration of one’s success or performance whereas expressions of pride stem from feeling good about one’s self, which requires time for self-evaluation.

“One of the biggest differences between triumph and pride can be seen in the face,” Matsumoto said. “When someone feels triumphant after a contest or challenge, their face can look quite aggressive. It’s like Michael Phelps’ reaction after winning the 2008 Olympics.   It looks quite different to the small smile we see when someone is showing pride.”

Analysis of the photographs of athletes used in the study revealed that triumph expressions occurred, on average, 4 seconds after the end of a match. Pride expressions occurred, on average, 16 seconds after the end of the match.

ScienceDaily reports that more research could be conducted on triumph as an emotion and that some psychologists believe triumph is a subset of pride, while Matsumoto and Hwang’s latest findings suggest triumph is an emotion in its own right.

Breaking Muscle also commented on these new findings  saying that there has not been much research on triumph in previous studies.  They also have another example of the “victory stance” referred to in this study.

If you want to test this yourself, now is a great opportunity.  Watch the London 2012 Olympics on NBC at nbcolympics.com

A new and interesting video shows an optical illusion that researchers have dubbed the “Flashed Face Distortion Effect”.

How does this work?  

Well, it is quite simple:  by flashing ordinary portraits aligned at the eyes, the human brain begins to compare and exaggerate the differences, causing the faces to seem malformed and hyper exaggerated.   Researcher Matthew Thompson writes,

“ Like many interesting scientific discoveries, this one was an accident. Sean Murphy, an undergraduate student, was working alone in the lab on a set of faces for one of his experiments. He aligned a set of faces at the eyes and started to skim through them. After a few seconds, he noticed that some of the faces began to appear highly deformed and grotesque. He looked at the especially ugly faces individually, but each of them appeared normal or even attractive.“

Click here to view the embedded video.

A new study purports that strong emotions are very contagious.  The research shows that if all members in a group share the same emotional state, then their brains will follow suit.  Not only will our emotions link up, so will our brain activity.

The study conducted by researchers from Aalto University and Turku PET Centre delineates that experiencing strong emotions synchronizes brain activity across individuals.  This reported by Medical News Today.

The article goes on to note that the research shows that observers who share other people’s emotional states become a part of a somatoensory and neural framework.  This enables them to understand other people’s intentions and actions, allowing them to “Tune In”  with them.

Professor Lauri Nemmenmaa from Aalto University says this synchronization enables social interaction and group processes.

That raises the question, how long is necessary to constitute a group setting that connects our brain waves and emotions?

A related article by PHYS.ORG comments on how the above idea might function in the real world.  It focuses on the training teachers receive in helping young children deal with their emotions such as frustration, anger and excitement.

 ”Everyday moments are golden opportunities for children to learn how to manage their emotions. Too often, teachers want to make negative emotions go away. Instead we need to use them as learning opportunities,” says Rebecca Swartz, a doctoral candidate and the study’s first author.

Student teachers who reported more effective strategies for regulating their own emotions and who also reported more accepting beliefs about children’s emotions were more supportive of children when they had emotional outbursts.

Swartz hopes that teachers will learn emotional regulation strategies as part of their professional development so they can model them for children and manage challenging emotional moments in the classroom.

“It might be effective to bring in a mentor who could coach, consult, and reflect with teachers as occasions arise,” she said.

 What are your opinions on the linkage of our emotions and brains in group settings?