Editing Self-perception theory (section)

==Further evidence==
There are numerous studies conducted by psychologists that support the [[Psychology of self|self]]-perception theory, demonstrating that emotions do follow behaviors. For example, it is found that corresponding emotions (including liking, disliking, [[happiness]], [[anger]], etc.) were reported following from their overt behaviors, which had been manipulated by the experimenters.<ref>Laird, J. D. (2007). Feelings: The Perceptions of Self. New York: Oxford University Press.</ref> These behaviors included making different [[facial expression]]s, gazes, and postures. In the end of the experiment, subjects inferred and reported their affections and attitudes from their practiced behaviors despite the fact that they were told previously to act that way. These findings are consistent with the [[James–Lange theory]] of emotion.

In 1974, James Laird conducted two experiments on how changes in facial expression can trigger changes in emotion.<ref name="Laird 1974">Laird, J. D. (1974). Self-attribution of emotion: The effects of expressive behavior on the quality of emotional experience. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 29(4), 475-486. doi:10.1037/h0036125</ref> Participants were asked to contract or relax various facial muscles, causing them to smile or frown without awareness of the nature of their expressions. Participants reported feeling more angry when frowning and happier when smiling. They also reported that cartoons viewed while they were smiling were more humorous than cartoons viewed while they were frowning. Furthermore, participants scored higher on aggression during frown trials than during smile trials, and scored higher on elation, surgency, and social affection factors during smile trials than during frown ones.<ref name="Laird 1974" /> Laird interpreted these results as "indicating that an individual's expressive behavior mediates the quality of his emotional experience."<ref name="Laird 1974" /> In other words, a person's facial expression can act as a cause of an emotional state, rather than an effect; instead of smiling because they feel happy, a person can make themselves feel happy by smiling.

In 2006, Tiffany Ito and her colleagues conducted two studies to investigate if changes in facial expression can trigger changes in [[Race (human categorization)|racial]] bias.<ref name="Ito">Ito, T., Chiao, K., Devine, P., Lorig, T., & Cacioppo, J. (2006). The Influence of Facial Feedback on Race Bias. Psychological Science, 17(3), 256-261. doi: 10.1111/j.1467-9280.2006.01694.x</ref> The explicit goal of the studies was to determine "whether facial feedback can modulate implicit racial bias as assessed by the [[Implicit-association test|Implicit Association Test]] (IAT)."<ref name="Ito" /> Participants were surreptitiously induced to smile through holding a pencil in their mouth while viewing photographs of unfamiliar black or white males or performed no somatic configuration while viewing the photographs (Study 1 only). All participants then completed the IAT with no facial manipulation. Results revealed a spreading attitude effect; people made to smile (unconsciously) at pictures of [[Black people|black]] males showed less implicit prejudice than those made to smile at pictures of [[White people|white]] males.<ref name="Ito" /> Their attitudes change as a result of their behavior.

Chaiken and Baldwin's 1981 study on self-perception theory dealt with environmental attitudes.<ref name="Chaiken">Chaiken, S., & Baldwin, M. W. (1981). Affective-cognitive consistency and the effect of salient behavioral information on the self-perception of attitudes. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 41(1), 1-12. doi:10.1037/0022-3514.41.1.1</ref> Each participant was identified as having well or poorly defined prior attitudes toward being an [[environmentalist]] or [[Conservation movement|conservationist]]. Participants then completed one of two versions of a questionnaire designed to bring to mind either past pro-ecology behaviors or past anti-ecology behaviors.<ref name="Chaiken" /> For example, questions such as "Have you ever recycled?" call to mind the times an individual has recycled, emphasizing their engagement in environmentalist behavior. On the other hand, questions like "Do you always recycle?" bring to mind all the times an individual did not recycle something, emphasizing a lack of environmentalist behavior. Afterward, participants' attitudes toward being an environmentalist/conservationist were re-measured. Those with strong initial/prior attitudes toward the environment were not really affected by the salient manipulation. Those with weak prior attitudes, however, were affected. At the end, those in the pro-ecology condition ("Have you ever recycled?") reported themselves as being much more pro-environment than those in the anti-ecology condition ("Do you always recycle?").<ref name="Chaiken" /> Bringing to mind certain past behaviors affected what people believed their attitudes to be.

Evidence for the self-perception theory has also been seen in real life situations. After teenagers participated in repeated and sustained volunteering services, their attitudes were demonstrated to have shifted to be more caring and considerate towards others.<ref>Brunelle, J. P. (2001). The impact of community service on adolescent volunteers' empathy, social responsibility, and concern for others. The Sciences and Engineering, 62, 2514.</ref>