Fritz Strack (born February 6, 1950) is a German social psychologist and professor emeritus at the

University of Würzburg The Julius Maximilian University of Würzburg (also referred to as the University of Würzburg, in German ''Julius-Maximilians-Universität Würzburg'') is a public research university in Würzburg, Germany. Founded in 1402, it is one of the ol ...

. Strack is a member of Germany's National Academy of Sciences Leopoldina and was awarded the

Ig Nobel Prize The Ig Nobel Prize () is a satirical prize awarded annually since 1991 to promote public engagement with scientific research. Its aim is to "honor achievements that first make people laugh, and then make them think." The name of the award is a ...

for psychology in 2019. He was the lead author of a frequently cited 1988 study that provided support for the

facial feedback hypothesis The facial feedback hypothesis, rooted in the conjectures of Charles Darwin and William James, is that one's facial expression directly affects their emotional experience. Specifically, physiological activation of the facial regions associated wit ...

Study on facial feedback

Strack's study asked participants to hold a pen in their mouths in such a way as to make them either smile or frown, and then had them rate how funny a series of ''

the Far Side ''The Far Side'' is a single-panel comic created by Gary Larson and syndicated by Chronicle Features and then Universal Press Syndicate, which ran from December 31, 1979, to January 1, 1995 (when Larson retired as a cartoonist). Its surrea ...

cartoon A cartoon is a type of visual art that is typically drawn, frequently Animation, animated, in an realism (arts), unrealistic or semi-realistic style. The specific meaning has evolved, but the modern usage usually refers to either: an image or s ...

s were. In this study, participants who were smiling rated the cartoons as funnier, on average, compared to those who were frowning. In 2016, a study by a separate research team was published which failed to replicate the original study's results. Strack himself suggestedStrack, F. (2016). Reflection on the smiling registered replication report. Perspectives on Psychological Science, 11(6), 929–930. https://doi.org/10.1177/1745691616674460 that the negative results of the replication study may have been caused by its researchers' use of a video camera to record the participants' responses. He also took issue with the replication study's choice of the same cartoons that had originally been used in 1985. Subsequent research has supported Strack's claim that participants knowing they are being recorded by cameras led to the replication study's negative result. Further evidence has provided additional support for both the pen procedure and the validity of the facial-feedback hypothesis.Coles, N. A., Larsen, J. T., & Lench, H. C. (2019). A meta-analysis of the facial feedback literature: Effects of facial feedback on emotional experience are small and variable. Psychological Bulletin, 145(6), 610-651.Marsh, A. A., Rhoads, S. A., & Ryan, R. M. (2018). A multi-semester classroom demonstration yields evidence in support of the facial feedback effect. Emotion, 19(8), 1500–1504.

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External links

Faculty pageProfile
at Social Psychology Network * Living people German social psychologists 1950 births Academic staff of the University of Würzburg Ig Nobel laureates University of Mannheim alumni Stanford University alumni People from Landau {{Germany-psychologist-stub