Dr Carlos Crivelli

Dr Carlos Crivelli is a behavioral scientist interested in mapping human diversity and extending scientific knowledge beyond laboratory settings in the field of affective science and social interaction.

Dr Crivelli holds an MSc and a PhD in Methodology of Behavioral and Health Sciences from the Universidad Autónoma de Madrid (Spain) under the supervision of Prof. José-Miguel Fernández-Dols. During his PhD, he was a visiting scholar at Boston College (supervisor: Prof. James A. Russell) and at the University of Glasgow (supervisor: Dr. Rachael E. Jack).

Dr Crivelli’s research provides a descriptive and explanatory framework for facial displays, social influence, and emotions beyond laboratory settings and the usual Western/Eastern educated and industrialized samples. On the one hand, Dr Crivelli conducts studies in natural settings using observational methods to study social interaction and facial displays using a behavioral ecology approach (e.g., Crivelli, Carrera, & Fernández-Dols, 2015; Crivelli & Fridlund, 2018). On the other hand, Dr Crivelli overcomes ethnocentric assumptions derived from Western theories of emotion, facial displays, and social influence by studying small-scale, indigenous populations such as the Trobrianders of Papua New Guinea or the Mwani of Mozambique (e.g., Crivelli, Jarillo, Russell, & Fernández-Dols, 2016; Crivelli, Russell, Jarillo, & Fernández-Dols, 2016).

• Social Sciences Institute

• Jarillo, S., & Crivelli, C. (2024). Perspectives on Indigenous well-being and climate change adaptation. WIREs Climate Change, e877. doi: 10.1002/wcc.877
• Patterson, M. L., Fridlund, A. J., & Crivelli, C. (2023). Four misconceptions about nonverbal communication. Perspectives on Psychological Science, 18(6), 1388–1411. doi:10.1177/17456916221148142
• Jarillo, S., Darrah, A., Crivelli, C., Mkwesipu, C., Kalubaku, K., Toyagena, N., Okwala, G., & Gumwemwata, J. (2020). Believing the unbelieved: Reincarnation, cultural authority and politics in the Trobriand Islands. HAU: Journal of Ethnographic Theory, 10(2), 409–419. doi:10.1086/709553
• Jarillo, S., Darrah, A., Crivelli, C., Mkwesipu, C., Kalubaku, K., Toyagena, N., Okwala, G., & Gumwemwata, J. (2020). Where are our ancestors? Rethinking Trobriand cosmology. HAU: Journal of Ethnographic Theory, 10(2), 367–391. doi:10.1086/709521
• Fridlund, A. J., Crivelli, C., Jarillo, S., Fernández-Dols, J. M., & Russell, J. A. (2019). Facial expressions. In T. Shackelford & V. Weekes-Shackelford (Eds.), Encyclopedia of Evolutionary Psychological Science. Cham, Switzerland: Springer. doi:10.1007/978-3-319-16999-6_797-2
• Crivelli, C., & Fridlund, A. J. (2019). Inside-Out: From Basic Emotions Theory to the Behavioral Ecology View. Journal of Nonverbal Behavior, 43(2), 161–194. doi:10.1007/s10919-019-00294-2
• Chen, C., Crivelli, C., Garrod, O. G. B., Schyns, P. G., Fernández-Dols, J. M., & Jack, R. E. (2018). Distinct facial expressions represent pain and pleasure across cultures. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, U.S.A., 115(43), E10013–E10021. doi:10.1073/pnas.1807862115
• Gendron, M., Crivelli, C., & Barrett, L. F. (2018). Universality reconsidered: Diversity in meaning making about facial expressions. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 27(4), 211–219. doi:10.1177/0963721417746794
• Jarillo, S., Fridlund, A. J., Crivelli, C., Fernández-Dols, J. M., & Russell, J. A. (2018). A rejoinder to Kret and Straffon. Journal of Human Evolution, 125, 198–200. doi:10.1016/j.jhevol.2018.03.002
• Crivelli, C., & Fridlund, A. J. (2018). Facial displays are tools for social influence. Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 22(5), 388–399. doi:10.1016/j.tics.2018.02.006
• Jack, R. E., Crivelli, C., & Wheatley, T. (2018). Data-driven methods to diversify knowledge of human psychology. Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 22(1), 1–5. doi:10.1016/j.tics.2017.10.002
• Crivelli, C., Russell, J. A., Jarillo, S., & Fernández-Dols, J. M. (2017). Recognizing spontaneous facial expressions of emotion in a small-scale society in Papua New Guinea. Emotion, 17(2), 337–347. doi:10.1037/emo0000236
• Crivelli, C.,  Russell, J. A., Jarillo, S., & Fernández-Dols, J. M. (2016). The fear gasping face as a threat display in a Melanesian society. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, U.S.A., 113(44), 12403–12407. doi:10.1073/pnas.1611622113
• Crivelli, C., Jarillo, S., & Fridlund, A. J. (2016). A multidisciplinary approach to research in small-scale societies: Studying emotions and facial expressions in the field. Frontiers in Psychology, 7:1073. doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2016.01073
• Crivelli, C., Jarillo, S., Russell, J. A., & Fernández-Dols, J. M. (2016). Reading emotions from faces in two indigenous societies. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 145, 830–843. doi:10.1037/xge0000172
• García-Higuera, J. A., Crivelli, C., & Fernández-Dols, J. M. (2015). Facial expressions during an extremely intense emotional situation: Toreros’ lip funel. Social Sciences Information, 54, 349–454. doi:10.1177/0539018415596381
• Crivelli, C., Carrera, P., & Fernández-Dols, J. M. (2015). Are smiles a sign of happiness? Spontaneous expressions of judo winners. Evolution and Human Behavior, 33, 52–58. doi:10.1016/j.evolhumbehav.2014.08.009
• Fernández-Dols, J. M., & Crivelli, C. (2013). Emotion and expression: Naturalistic studies. Emotion Review, 5(1), 24–29. doi:10.1177/1754073912457229
• Fernández-Dols, J. M., Carrera, P., & Crivelli, C. (2011). Facial behavior while experiencing sexual excitement. Journal of Nonverbal Behavior, 35, 63–71. doi:10.1007/s10919-010-0097-7

Book Chapters

• Crivelli, C., & Gendron, M. (2017). Facial expressions and emotions in indigenous societies. In J. M. Fernández-Dols and J. A. Russell (Eds.), The science of facial expression (pp. 497–516). New York, NY: Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/acprof:oso/9780190613501.003.0026
• Fernández-Dols, J. M., & Crivelli, C. (2014). Recognition of facial expressions: Past, present, and future challenges. In M. Mandal and A. Awasthi (Eds.), Understanding facial expressions in communication: Cross-cultural and multidisciplinary perspective (pp. 19–40). New Delhi, India: Springer. doi:10.1007/978-81-322-1934-7_2

Published Abstracts

• Chen, C., Crivelli, C., Garrod, O. G. B., Fernández-Dols, J. M., Schyns, P. G., & Jack, R. E. (2016). Facial expressions of pain and pleasure are highly distinct. Journal of Vision, 16(12):210. doi:10.1167/16.12.210

• Crivelli, C., & Fridlund, A. J. (2018). Facial displays are tools for social influence. Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 22(5), 388–399. doi:10.1016/j.tics.2018.02.006
• Crivelli, C., Russell, J. A., Jarillo, S., & Fernández-Dols, J. M. (2016). The fear gasping face as a threat display in a Melanesian society. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, U.S.A., 113(44), 12403–12407. doi:10.1073/pnas.1611622113
• Gendron, M., Crivelli, C., & Barrett, L. F. (2018). Universality reconsidered: Diversity in meaning making about facial expressions. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 27(4), 211–219. doi:10.1177/0963721417746794
• Crivelli, C., Jarillo, S., Russell, J. A., & Fernández-Dols, J. M. (2016). Reading emotions from faces in two indigenous societies. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 145, 830–843. doi:10.1037/xge0000172
• Crivelli, C., Carrera, P., & Fernández-Dols, J. M. (2015). Are smiles a sign of happiness? Spontaneous expressions of judo winners. Evolution and Human Behavior, 33, 52–58. doi:10.1016/j.evolhumbehav.2014.08.009

• Facial behavior
• Behavioural Ecology
• Indigenous societies
• Emotion
• Social influence
• Environmental psychology
• Methodology

• PSYC2094 (Level 5): Personality and Intelligence
• PSYC3000 (Level 6): Psychology Project
• PSYC3034 (Level 6): Conceptual Issues and Critical Debates in Psychology
• PSYC5611 (Level 7): Applied Statistics in Health Psychology

• PhD
• MSc
• PGCLTHE
• BSc

• BSc Psychology
• MSc Health Psychology

• Honorary Fellow, The Univeristy of Melbourne (School of Geography)
• Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (2020)
• Best Research and Young Promising Career Award (First Prize), Spanish Society of Motivation and Emotion, 2011 (500 €)

• International Society for Research on Emotion
• The Society for Affective Science

• Future Islands: Catalysing solutions to climate change in low-lying islands 
• The behavioural ecology of human facial displays

Conference presentations

• Crivelli, C., & Jarillo, S. (June, 2022). Faces of aggression: A flexible influence system. Oral presentation at the Consortium of European Research on Emotion Conference (CERE), Granada, Spain
• Crivelli, C. (April, 2021). Beyond WEIRD affectice science. The Annual Conference of the Society for Affective Science (SAS), On-line conference.
  
• Crivelli, C., & Jarillo, S. (April, 2018). The smiling face: Is it happiness, play and affiliation, or "magic of attraction"? Oral presentation at the Consortium of European Research on Emotion Conference (CERE), Glasgow, United Kingdom
• Crivelli, C. (July, 2017). The gasping face: A signal of threat or fear? Oral presentation at the Plenary Meeting of the International Society for Research on Emotion (ISRE), St. Louis, USA
• Chen, C., Crivelli, C., Garrod, O. G. B., Fernández-Dols, J. M., Schyns, P. G., & Jack, R. E. (May, 2016). Facial expressions of pain and pleasure are highly distinct. Oral presentation at the Meeting of the Vision Sciences Society (VSS), Florida, USA
• Crivelli, C., & Jarillo, S. (July, 2015). Conducting studies in indigenous societies: A mixed methods research approach. Oral presentation at the Plenary Meeting of the International Society for Research on Emotion (ISRE), Geneva, Switzerland
• Crivelli, C., & Jarillo, S. (March, 2015). Trobrianders’ categorization of facial expressions: A language-free test. Oral presentation at the International Convention of Psychological Science (ICPS), Amsterdam, The Netherlands
• Fernández-Dols, J. M., Crivelli, C., & Jarillo, S. (August, 2013). Do Trobriand Islands’ children label prototypical facial expressions of emotion as basic emotions? Oral presentation at the Plenary Meeting of the International Society for Research on Emotion (ISRE), Berkley, CA
• Crivelli, C., Terrazo, M., Martínez-Arias, R., & Fernández-Dols, J. M. (May, 2012). Facial expressions’ perception of sexual enjoyment and pain: A situationist approach. Oral presentation at the Consortium of European Research on Emotion Conference (CERE), Canterbury, United Kingdom
• Fernández-Dols, J. M., Crivelli, C., & Carrera, P. (August, 2011). Spontaneous Expressions and Emotion: A Baconian Approach. Oral presentation at the Plenary Meeting of the International Society for Research on Emotion (ISRE), Kyoto, Japan
• Crivelli, C., Carrera, P., & Fernández-Dols, J. M. (June, 2011). Facial expression, emotion, and the myth of Sisyphus: Six years of unreal optimism. Oral presentation at the 1st Meeting of Young Researchers in Emotion and Motivation organized by the Spanish Society of Motivation and Emotion (AME), Madrid, Spain

Invited talks

• Crivelli, C. (November, 2023). Beyond WEIRD Affective Science. Event organized by Prof. Isabelle Mareschal, Psychology Department, Queen Mary–University of London, UK
• Crivelli, C. (January, 2023). Beyond WEIRD Affective and Behavioral Science. Event organized by Prof. Bridget Waller, Department of Psychology, Nottingham Trent University, UK
• Crivelli, C. (May, 2022). Beyond WEIRD Affective Science. Keynote speaker at the conference, "Cognitive and Functional Perspectives on Emotion" (Dubrovnik, Croatia). Event organized by the Central european Cognitive Science Association (DuCog)
• Crivelli, C. (March, 2021). Beyond WEIRD Affective Science. Event organized by Dr. Erik Gustafsson, School of Psychology, University of Portsmouth, UK
• Crivelli, C. (November, 2020). Ways to adapt to the challenges that enterprises face during the pandemic. Event organized by Brewin Dolphin UK, Leicester Business Festival, Leicester, UK
• Crivelli, C. (October, 2019). The Behavioral Ecology View of Facial Displays. Event organized by Prof. Stefano Parmigiani (International School of Ethology), The Ettore Majorana Foundation and Centre for Scientific Culture, Erice, Italy
• Crivelli, C. (September, 2017). On extraordinary claims requiring extraordinary evidence: Basic Emotions Theory and the doctrine of facial expression universality. Event organized by Prof. Didier Grandjean, Swiss Center for Affective Sciences, University of Geneva, Switzerland
• Crivelli, C. (November, 2016). Controversial Issues in Cognitive Science: Replication and Narrow Sampling. Event organized by Dr. Ricardo de Pascual, Psychology Department, Universidad Europea de Madrid, Spain
• Crivelli, C. (February, 2014). Emotion and Facial Expressions in the Trobriand Islands of Papua New Guinea. Event organized by Dr. Rachael E. Jack, Institute of Neuroscience and Psychology, University of Glasgow, UK
• Crivelli, C. (October, 2013). Emotion and Facial Expressions: The 2013 Trobriand Islands Expedition. Event organized by Prof. James A. Russell, Psychology Department, Boston College, MA, USA
• Crivelli, C. (May, 2012). Cross-cultural Psychology: Some controversial issues. Event organized by the Research Group on Animal and Human Behavior, Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Spain
• Crivelli, C. (November, 2011). Spontaneous Facial Expression and Emotion: A Baconian Approach. Event organized by the Research Group on Animal and Human Behavior, Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Spain

• Australian Research Council, Australia (2021–2023)–L180100040 (AU$ 3,208,274)
• BA/Leverhulme Small Research Grant, UK (2018–2019)—SRG18R1-180740, Principal Investigator (£10,000)

• International Convention of Psychological Science (ICPS) Travel Award, Association for Psychological Science, 2015 (200 €)
• Visiting Scholar Research Grant at University of Glasgow (UK), Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Spain, 2014 (3,900 €)
• Visiting Scholar Research Grant at Boston College (MA, USA), Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Spain, 2013 (4,700 €)
• Ph.D. Scholarship, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Spain, 2012-2016 (~55,000 €)
• M.Sc. Scholarship, Methodology for Behavioral and Health Sciences, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Spain, 2011 (4,800 €)

• Visiting Scholarship at University of California–Santa Barbara (Future Research Leaders Programme Fund), De Montfort University, UK, 2019 (£1,500)

Editorial Board:

• Nature–Scientific Data

Grants (Ad-hoc reviewer):

• 2021: National Science Foundation (NSF), USA
• 2021: US–Israel Binational Science Foundation, USA and Israel
• 2020: Czech Science Foundation, Czech Republic 

Journals (Ad-hoc reviewer):

• Trends in Cognitive Sciences
• Psychological Review
• Nature Human Behavior
• Nature–Scientific Data
• Journal of Experimental Psychology: General
• Emotion Review
• Emotion
• Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences
• Cognitive Science
• Behavior Research Methods
• Scientific Reports
• PLoS One
• Journal of Experimental Social Psychology
• Journal of Nonverbal Behavior
• Cognition and Emotion
• Evolutionary Human Sciences
• Evolutionary Psychology
• Evolutionary Psychological Science
• Journal of Individual Differences
• Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology
• Frontiers in Psychology
• International Journal of Human-Computer Studies
• Schizophrenia Research

Books (Ad-hoc reviewer):

• SAGE (Research Methods)

Member of Academic/Scientific Committees (conferences):

• 2024: The International Society for Research on Emotion (ISRE) – Abstract Review Board, Belfast, United Kingdom
• 2021–2022: The Society for Affective Science (SAS) – Abstract Review Board, Annual Conference
• 2020: The Consortium of European Research on Emotion Conference (CERE), Granda, Spain
• 2018: The Consortium of European Research on Emotion Conference (CERE), Glasgow, United Kingdom

Consultancy works:

• 2020: The Smile Project (Sponsor: Specsavers)

• Patterson, M. L., Fridlund, A. J., & Crivelli, C. (2023). Four misconceptions about nonverbal communication. Perspectives on Psychological Science, 18(6), 1388–1411.
  
  • The Society for Personality and Social Psychology (SPSP)
  • Psychology Today

• Crivelli, C., & Fridlund, A. J. (2019). Inside-Out: From Basic Emotions Theory to the Behavioral Ecology View. Journal of Nonverbal Behavior, 43(2), 161-194.
  
  • The New Scientist

• Chen, C., Crivelli, C., Garrod, O. G. B., Schyns, P. G., Fernández-Dols, J. M., & Jack, R. E. (2018). Distinct facial expressions represent pain and pleasure across cultures. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, USA, 115(43), E10013-E10021.
  
  • Newsweek
  • la Repubblica
  • Cosmopolitan
  • Daily Mail
  • Vice—Motherboard
  • Focus

• Gendron, M., Crivelli, C., & Barrett, L. F. (2018). Universality reconsidered: Diversity in meaning making about facial expressions. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 27(4), 211-219.
  
  • Teaching Current Directions in Psychological Science (Association for Psychological Science)
  • Nature

• Crivelli, C., & Fridlund, A. J. (2018). Facial displays are tools for social influence. Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 22(5), 388-399.
  • BBC
  • British Psychological Society–Research Digest
  • Association for Psychological Science
  • Futurity

• Crivelli, C.,  Russell, J. A., Jarillo, S., & Fernández-Dols, J. M. (2016). The fear gasping face as a threat display in a Melanesian society. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, USA, 113(44), 12403-12407.
  • Science
  • The Boston Globe
  • Medical Xpress
  • Voz Populi
  • Focus
  • Wissenschaft
  • Forskning
  • El País
  • Cerveau et Psycho
  • Health Mail Russia
  • Wired

• Crivelli, C., Jarillo, S., Russell, J. A., & Fernández-Dols, J. M. (2016). Reading emotions from faces in two indigenous societies. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 145, 830-843.
  • El País
  • Malcolm Gladwell (2019). Talking to Strangers
  • Aeon 

• Crivelli, C., Jarillo, S., & Fridlund, A. J. (2016). A multidisciplinary approach to research in small-scale societies: Studying emotions and facial expressions in the field. Frontiers in Psychology, 7:1073.
  • Der Spiegel
  • El País